Recollections of the Past and Present
by UneBellePirouette
Summary: Raimundo finds his past unraveling and colliding with the present. There is an unseen enemy lurking in the corners of his mind, threatening his sanity. Distrust runs rampant, and an unfortunate premonition is just the beginning. Rai centric.
1. Prologue

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters. Anyone believing otherwise should be institutionalized. (Applies to all chapters)

Summary: Set post Citadel of Doom and AU after that. With Wuya out of commission and the Shen Gong Wu currently dormant, Master Fong decides to allow the Xiaolin Warriors (excluding Omi) to return home for three months. Upon returning from his "vacation", Raimundo finds the events of his life unfolding, and affecting him more than he had ever thought. There is an unseen enemy lurking in the corners of his mind and Raimundo is finding it hard to trust those around him.

Pairings: RaiKim (Later into the story)

Ages: (For the sake of the story, I'm making them older.)

Omi: 14

Clay: 17

Raimundo: 16

Kimiko: 16

**A/N: 5-14-06**

I've gone and edited a bit of the beginning because some of these earlier chapters make me cringe a little. Hopefully, you readers will overlook some of the oddities in the first three or four chapters and stick it through for the rest. I promise it gets better ). **As a warning, I'm more inclined to focus on plot rather than strictly romance.**

.:Prologue:.

Kimiko Tohomiko angrily stormed over to the small campfire that the others had built, creating small earthquakes and ruthlessly ending the lives of unsuspecting ants. Plopping down on one of the rugs lain out on the grass, she moodily chewed on her lower lip. Her whole body felt like it had been used as a seat cushion for Tubbimura. A few feet from her left was Clay, whose attention was focused on the amusing scene Omi was making. The shorter monk was not accustomed to the concept of marshmallows being literal balls of gooey sugar.

"Finally done unpackin'?"

Kimiko shot him a glare before folding her arms over her chest. "Yes, and no thanks to any of you," she spat. "I had to unpack thirty bags, _thirty_!"

Kimiko shot each of them an angry look before grabbing the bag of marshmallows that Clay had brought from home. Clay had intentionally arrived earlier in order to sneak his "stash" in before any of the other monks noticed. Unfortunately, he failed to take into consideration that Omi lived at the temple. The younger monk wanted to know what a "marshmallow" was, and Clay, not wanting to ruin Omi's enthusiasm, reluctantly agreed. At this rate, Clay knew he would be lucky if there was half a bag left.

While munching on a piece of the sweet, chewy goodness, Kimiko gave each of them a once over. In the three months she had put an end to decorative fingernails, the wild hair colors, and had sprouted a whopping inch. Granted, that only put her at the dismally short height of 5"4, and her doctor would argue that she was really only 5"3 and a half. Tugging at a long black strand of hair that escaped her pony-tail, Kimiko made note of the changes in her friends.

Omi looked just about the same as before they all took their short break from "saving the world"—as in he was still bald and still vertically challenged. Clay had gotten even taller than he was before, and judging from his roots, his blond hair was starting to fade to a light brown. Despite the growth spurt, the cowboy maintained his larger physique. The only one of them that seemed to have any obvious change was Raimundo, who though only seemed to have grown an inch, looked a little on the thin side. His hair had gotten longer, and messier, and he traded in his usual attire for a long sleeved, heather grey hoodie and dark blue jeans. He was still wearing his hood up.

"Kimiko! It is nice to see that you have joined us!" Omi shouted, "Would you like to participate in a game of 'Monopoly' with Clay and me?"

"Yeah Kimiko, it ain't much fun with just the two of us playing."

"Oh, Clay, you are just sore because I am winning all your pieces of colorful paper!"

A light chuckle emanated from the hollows of Kimiko's throat. "No, I think I'll sit this one out."

Watching Omi and Clay's banter, Kimiko couldn't help but notice an unidentifiable feeling in her stomach. It wasn't the nostalgia she felt when she was away from her friends in Japan for too long, nor was it the feeling she got when she finally got to see said friends again. It was a foreign concept of warmth at the thought of the "family" she had here at the temple. Halfway through Clay and Omi's game of monopoly, Kimiko must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, she was awoken by furious screeching and thumping noises. Kimiko's eyes quickly darted over to an Omi caked in chocolate, gooey, half-melted marshmallows and chunks of graham crackers. Looking around, she noticed that the Monopoly board was long since been abandoned as Clay and Omi seemed to have moved onto late night snacks.

"Grn! I demand that you release me, you wretched substance!" Omi shouted before toppling over.

Omi shot Clay a pleading look before hesitantly inquiring the cowboy for help. "I believe I have found myself in quite a predicament. Clay, would you kindly help me from myself?"

"Sure thing, little guy." Clay responded before ushering Omi back into the temple.

Before completely disappearing from sight, Clay turned his head back towards Kimiko and Raimundo "Don't go anywhere guys, Ah'll be back in a jiffy."

Kimiko nodded her head and shifted her gaze to Raimundo, who was currently sitting at her far right, staring blankly at the campfire. A silence soon followed, and Kimiko wasn't too fond of awkward silences. Well, it wasn't so much awkward per se, as it was just odd. She was accustomed to a chattier Raimundo. Lacing her fingers together, she started to idly twiddle her thumbs before abruptly stopping. Irritated by the silence, Kimiko decided to just say anything—which ended up being one of the world's most mundane questions.

"How was your vacation, Rai?"

She watched as he snapped out of his trance, a lock of dark hair falling over an eye, before he finally replied with a "Fine."

A frown graced her doll-like features. Something wasn't right. Raimundo was boisterous, loud, obnoxious and talkative. He was never _quiet_. Before she could further analyze this, Raimundo got up and mumbled something about being tired and headed off to bed. Moments later, Clay returned with a cleaned Omi. .

Omi moodily dragged his feet back to the mats, kicking a bag of marshmallows on the way up. "I am never eating these 'marshmallows' again…"

Of course, Omi's foul treatment of the last of Clays sugar stash elicited a cry of protest from the southerner.

---

Raimundo walked as silently as humanly possible on his way back to the temple. He finally stopped to open and lean against the doorframe of the front door. The sun had set about an hour ago, leaving an inky black sky illuminated only by the temple lamp posts and twinkling stars. He continued to gaze at the night sky, ignoring the odd wind that was biting at his skin. Strange was the fact that he had grown to cherish silences. Being part of a traveling circus forced him to grow accustom to loud music and rowdy crowds, and it replaced his childhood joy of simply observing a more quiet world. Opening his eyes, he took the opportunity to watch.

The Xiaolin temple had become something of a home to him, though granted, it took a while for his reckless self to realize it. In spite of all its homeliness, the Xiaolin Temple felt different after his…defection. The Xiaolin Temple was hardly a replacement for Rio de Janeiro, but his home back in Rio was empty and void. His train of thought was cut off by the sudden rustling of cloth and footsteps against soft grass that invaded his ears. He sensed someone approaching him.

"You are thinking about her, are you not?"

Surprise was the first emotion to register in Raimundo's mind, but he quickly replaced it with a mask of confusion. "Sorry, Master Fong, but I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"I did a little bit of background check on each of you. You were close to her; it is only natural that your return to Rio de Janeiro had brought back memories."

Raimundo stood there, flabbergasted for a good moment before collecting himself, calmly replying, "What happens and has happened in my life is none of your concern. I'd appreciate it if you didn't go digging around in my past."

His eyes narrowed to a dangerous degree while walking back into the temple. A large part of him was furious that the old Master thought it was okay to pry into the private confines of his life. His frustration at the lack of privacy around the temple was only broken for a brief second when he winced at his arm connected itself with a small cabinet.

Master Fong quietly observed Raimundo retreat back into the temple. There were things disturbing the apprentice that were unknown to Master Fong. This fact worried him greatly; secrets had the potential to become a liability. Sighing, he headed towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. Yes, tea, that should settle his nerves.

---

Raimundo slowly walked down the hall that led to the large space occupied by the dragon-in-trainings' "bedrooms". He carelessly threw on a pair of pajamas before sitting on his mattress. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on them. It was extremely dark, but he didn't want to bother with lighting a candle. He felt, hollow. Everything had started to lose its appeal: food, training, Shen Gong Wu, friends…He despised his own carelessness and how it often caused things or people he cared about to be taken away from him. There were the atypical question of "why" and "what ifs" that began to flood his mind, despite his best efforts to suppress them. What if he couldn't open the puzzle box? Why didn't he return to Rio de Janeiro sooner? Would it have made a difference? Why did he forget to _tell_ her—warn her? A lump had started to form in his throat. He tried swallowing it. He didn't like feeling helpless.

A/N: Okay, that's the first chapter. Be sure to tell me whether or not I should continue…R&R!


	2. Chapter 1

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

----

Chapter 1:

"Raimundo!"

An inaudible groan was the only response Omi received, though it only inspired him to shout louder.

"Raimundo!"

Cracking an eyelid open, Raimundo found, to his surprise, that he was exhausted enough to have a night of dreamless sleep. Sparing one glance at the clock, he groaned and tried to pull the sheets over his head in an attempt to block out the hyperactive monk jumping on his mattress.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Master Fong has an important announcement to make!"

"Alright, I'm up…" Raimundo mumbled, before kicking Omi out so that he could change.

Changing as quickly as he could, Raimundo hurried off to the training area in the "back" of the temple. Crisp fall air hit him full on when he opened the shoji door. The sky was fairly clear and festooned only with the occasional cool breeze. As he walked closer to the center of the large, field, he was able to make out Kimiko, Omi, and Clay sitting on a rug. Kimiko was the first to notice his arrival and motioned to him with her hand to hurry up and join them. Despite Kimiko's message to hurry up and join everyone else at the breakfast table, Raimundo was still too tried to bring himself to jog up the small hill.

When he finally got there, he took a seat by Kimiko and reluctantly grabbed a piece of toast, no need to attract any unwanted attention. He noticed that the group was more or less noisily eating their breakfast. Kimiko was happily munching on the cereal that she had brought from Japan to the temple. Omi was working his way through tofu and celery sticks, which roughly translated to vegan food that made Clay gag. Raimundo, who didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, just picked at his toast and tried not to watch Clay stuff his face with eggs, sausages, pancakes and fruit.

"Where's Master Fong? I thought we were supposed to meet him here." Raimundo asked, aware that there was no sign of the old man.

He wasn't hungry, and he didn't feel much like making small talk. The quiet wait felt awkward, and he was getting impatient.

" M'fer Bong sa' foo h'eat firbst, sinth' you wern' ear yeth." Clay had attempted to respond, only to spray bits of his breakfast at an unsuspecting Kimiko.

"Ewwwww…_gross_…" Kimiko complained, brushing the bits of sausage off of her.

She shot Clay an intimidating glare, accompanied by an angry growl before turning to face Raimundo. "What Clay was _trying_ to tell you was that since you weren't here yet, Master Fong insisted that we should eat first."

Rai nodded his head, indicating that he had heard her. Kimiko averted her attention back to her hair. It was a hopeless scenario, but she could at least try to get the food bits out.

"Thank you, Clay. Really. Thank you." Kimiko was not happy. "I smell like a greasy breakfast special at a bad diner."

"Nothing wrong with diner food…" Clay mumbled quietly to himself.

"I hope Master Fong lets me change. The next thing I need is Dojo sniffing at me all day." Kimiko groaned.

Kimiko's desperate attempts to rid herself of the stubborn food particles were quite entertaining. In fact, Raimundo found himself laughing for the first time in a long while. It wasn't exactly a loud 'hahaha' kind of laugh, but it felt good anyway. The sound of crunching grass hit their ears, and the Xiaolin warriors' heads all turned to face their teacher.

"I apologize for the wait. As you all know I have an important announcement to make." Master Fong paused for a moment before continuing. "Because Wuya is not currently a threat, I have decided to enroll each of you in a temple that is an affiliate of ours in order to expand threw range of your training. There you will work on the more academic part of your training. It will also allow you to test your skills against others. Dojo will bring the four of you Ming Xu Temple on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings. You will be training here on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday afternoons."

Master Fong allowed them to absorb the shock before calling on Dojo for transportation. After packing their belongings in an overnight bag, the Xiaolin Warriors piled onto Dojo's back and held on tight as the dragon kicked off into sky.

-----

"Dojo, will there be other Xiaolin dragons at the Ming Xu temple?"

"Mmm, let's put it this way Omi. You four are technically the only four _elemental_ dragons that have been located. Students training at the Ming Xu temple _are_ selectively chosen, but because an element isn't required there, there are more students attending Ming Xu." Dojo replied just as he emerged from the clouds and landed on the cobblestone floor.

Frowning, Raimundo tried to figure out a way to hold the bags so that they wouldn't drop after every other step he took. Kimiko had somehow convinced him to help bring both her bags, which looked a lot lighter than they really were, up into the temple's guest rooms. So there he was, struggling to find a way to properly balance three bags when he heard Dojo let out two coughs to get his attention.

"Having a bit of trouble there, Rai?"

"Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" He replied with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry about it, I'll figure it-"

"Look, Raimundo, I can tell that something's wrong. I know you were upset that the traveling circus shut down, but there's something else bothering you too. You practically scream 'morbid'."

What Dojo said took him by surprise and caused him to drop one of Kimiko's burgundy bags. _Damn Kimiko's bag for being so lumpy…_Raimundo looked at his reptilian guardian and noticed that Dojo's eyes were filled with concern. Rai suppressed a frown. Dojo shouldn't get this sad over him. It was very unlike the dragon to be behaving this way.

"I'll be alright, really." Raimundo said, almost as if he was trying to convince himself that it was what he really believed.

"I'm worried about you, we all are. If there's a feeling inside of ya that just doesn't feel right, please talk to someone. Talk to _me_, or Master Fong. Anyone really. Just don't keep it all to yourself."

Ignoring Dojo's advice, Raimundo mumbled incoherently into the luggage in an attempt to hint that he no longer wished to continue this particular conversation. After an awkward silence, with bags in hand, he sighed and said to the dragon, "Look, I've got to get inside. See you tomorrow, Dojo."

A pained expression crossed the dragon's face as he watched Raimundo walk away. He was saddened by the wind dragon's reluctance to trust him, or anyone else for the matter.

---

Inside the temple's guest quarters, Clay, Kimiko and Omi were making themselves more at home by unpacking a few of their belongings, or in Kimiko's case, lounging in front of the unlit fireplace. Clay and Omi were mindlessly chattering when a thought flitted through Kimiko's mind. It was something that she noticed the night before, but failed to actually bring up with anyone.

"Hey guys?" Kimiko started, "Do either of you two notice anything different about Rai? Like something...off?"

Clay put a contemplative finger on his chin, "Well he has been acting a bit strangely. He's been quiet, doesn't talk as much as he used to. He doesn't even make fun of Omi anymore, and that whole s'more accident was beggin' to made fun of."

Omi pouted and look indignant. "I refuse to listen to unkind words about myself. Clay only laughed at me because I kicked his bag of marshmallows."

"And you wasted about two other bags trying to make a s'more." Clay added with amusement. He didn't really mind the wasted marshmallows anymore. He didn't have the opportunity to get himself sick off of eating them all on his own anymore.

Kimiko laughed for a split second before her face scrunched up and resumed a more serious position. Raimundo's new and unfamiliar behavior bothered her. The three slipped into a contemplative silence before Omi broke the period of contemplation with his own opinion.

"Yes, Raimundo has been behaving oddly." He paused, placing his chin between his index finger and thumb. "If my irrefutably perfect memory serves me correctly, Raimundo was behaving _very _strangely before going over to the dark side.

"You reckon Rai's goin' bad again?" Clay questioned.

Omi just shrugged. "If he was so easily persuaded by promises of power and glory before, what makes you think he can not be just as easily persuaded a second time?"

Clay didn't respond and seemed to take Omi's rationale into consideration.

"Do we really have that little faith in each other?" Kimiko furrowed her brows together as she tried to digest Omi's opinion before voicing her own. "No one can say that they've never made a mistake before and I just don't think we should always hold the whole Wuya thing against him."

"What Omi is trying to point out is that, well, how we can completely trust someone who's gone rotten apple on us before. Think about it, he launched the world into darkness to pursue his own selfish ambitions." Clay paused and looked Kimiko in the eye. "Kimiko, he made a choice to disregard moral principles and as a result, almost had us ki—"

Clay was interrupted by the arrival of the forth member of their party.

"So, where do you want your bags, Kimiko?"

Raimundo was standing by the doorway to the living area in the guest rooms. Kimiko felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. _How much had he heard?_

"Just put them on the table, Rai. Thank you for helping carrying my bags."

"It was nothing," Raimundo shrugged. "I'm going to go find out what classes we're going to be taking."

His nonchalant response made Kimiko feel even worse. She gave Omi and Clay a 'look what you did' look and a disapproving glare before hurrying off in Raimundo's direction. After all, she needed to get her class schedule too. She felt the innate desire to apologize on Clay and Omi's behalf, but a nagging feeling in her stomach told her she feared the potentially awkward situation. Seeing Kimiko sprint down the hall, Omi and Clay shared a glance and followed.

---

A/N: I intended to actually have them start their classes, but that didn't exactly work out. It's more of a second introduction than a chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

-----

Chapter 2: New Lessons, Old Rival

Halfway down the hall, she realized that awkwardness can shove itself up Omi's ass. She almost had to break into a run to catch up to Raimundo, despite the fact that he wasn't walking very fast. _Either Raimundo has really long legs, or I'm way out of shape._

"Rai! Wait up!" She shouted to get his attention. It worked; Raimundo stopped walking and turned around. Smiling weakly, she began the apology.

"Rai, I don't know how much you heard, but-"

"How much I heard? You alright Kimi?" Raimundo questioned her. Of course, this was a flat out lie, but Rai knew that it sounding convincing enough.

Kimiko frowned. "You mean you didn't hear Clay and Omi…?"

Raimundo raised an eyebrow and to illustrate confusion. He almost gave himself a pat on the back for such good on-the-spot acting skills. He deserved an Oscar for this. Kimiko's face relaxed at his comment, and in turn, he felt his insides relax.

Kimiko frowned a little. "Oh. Well, never mind then."

He honestly didn't want to lie to her, but after hearing what Clay thought about him, he really didn't want to know what Kimiko thought about him. He frowned._ Wait._ Why would he care so much about what Kimiko thought? Of course he cared about what she thought, she was his friend; at least he hoped she still was. Besides he didn't really want to know what Omi thought of him either because Rai was sure that the righteous monk could just go on and on and on about all the mistakes he made. Omi probably composed a list of them. Noticing his minds verbal diarrhea, he shook his head in some inane attempt to get his brain to stop thinking. He momentarily forgot that he was talking to someone, someone whose face was contorted into a half squinty, half furrowed confusion.

Rai knew Kimiko probably thought he was insane by now. He probably was. Not wanting to delve in unpleasant thoughts any longer, he was relieved when he heard approaching footsteps in the distance. It was almost humorous how nervous Clay looked. Almost.

"Omi and Ah would like to…" Clay began before Kimiko jabbed him in the ribs.

Thankfully, Clay had gotten the hint and shut up. The expected awkward follow up never occurred as someone cleared his throat to get their attention. Heads turned and were met with a man in his mid to late fifties. The man had a small beard, a mustache and a receding hair-line.

"I am assuming that you four are from the Xiaolin Temple." They nodded, and he continued in a nasal voice. "I am Master Hojo. Here at the Ming Xu Temple, we do not study or use Shen Gong Wu. In addition to your physical training classes will be a class in using and mixing herbal remedies. Master Fong felt it was vital for each of you to know and understand how to make and use herbal medicines in the case of an emergency."

Hojo reached into one of his pockets and four, small sheets of paper.

"Here are your class times and locations. I trust you can find them on your own. Before any of you proceed any further, I need each of you to change into these robes."

After the Xiaolin Warriors changed from red to the dark blue robes provided, they walked to the greenhouse at the west end of the temple. Upon entering the greenhouse, they were greeted by the sight of about forty other blue robed students, five of which appeared to be monks like Omi. Omi's face lit up wit ha smile of sheer delight at the prospect of meeting other monks his age. Omi hurried to the small group and introduced himself. In a matter of seconds, the other Xiaolin warriors could hear the zealous monk yammering on about his accomplishments. They shrugged and left Omi alone with his new acquaintances; it was good that the little guy was making new friends. Omi didn't know many people his age, and before Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo came, the only people Omi had to talk to was Master Fong or some other aged and decrepit old man.

"Raimundo Bernal, the amazing acrobat. You made the circus oh so proud."

Raimundo knew that voice. His head immediately snapped towards the direction from which the voice came.

Now there's a face he never wanted to see again. Antonio Lopez was still just as scrawny as he was two years ago. Antonio had a face like a rat's, and his sorry excuse for a patch of hair was slicked back by a substance whose origin was still unknown to Raimundo. He speculated that Antonio preferred a "natural gel" to the gel sold at the local drugstore. Antonio and his parents fled to Rio de Janeiro after his father was wanted for tax fraud and embezzlement in America. Growing up with Antonio was no easy feat, and much to Raimundo's disdain, he had to attend elementary school with the bastard. He didn't think he's have to see Antonio after he joined the traveling circus, but much to his dismay, Antonio joined a year later. Raimundo wanted whatever god was out there the finger for making Antonio's rat-face a permanent fixture in his life.

"So how much of your father's stolen money did he have to use to bribe the old geezer into letting you into this school?" Raimundo scoffed.

Antonio's face twisted in anger and embarrassment before he stalked off in the opposite direction. Raimundo snorted. _Asshole never was any good with comebacks. _

"How did you know him?" Kimiko asked.

Raimundo shrugged, "His family was running from the law and came to live in Rio. I had the misfortune of being his neighbor."

Before Kimiko could ask anymore questions, the teacher walked in to introduce himself. Their teacher looked to be in his early to mid-forties. His constipated expression appeared to be more permanent than not, and his greasy hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The teacher cleared his throat.

"I am Priest Zhou and that will be what each, and every one of you will be addressing me as. All those ages 13 and younger stay in the greenhouse. Ages 17 and up, go to the temple's back field and wait by the edge of the woods. Your teachers will be there shortly. The rest of you follow me."

The mass of students were broken up into three smaller ones. Two of the five monks Omi met had gone over to the 17 and up group with Clay and a couple of other students. A large portion of the students grouped up under the 13 and under category, leaving only about fifteen students in the 14 to 16 category. They walked out of the greenhouse and back into the temple before descending down a stone staircase that led to the basement.

"Take a seat." Zhou ordered his students as the entered a brightly lit room.

There was a loud rustle as everyone simultaneously sat down. Raimundo took a seat next to Kimiko in middle of the room. Omi and his new friends sat in the front.

"I am assuming that many of you have not had any or much previous experience with this field of study. So, I have decided that I would assign each of you something even a baboon can successfully brew. The instructions for a basic antidote are written on the board. Some parts you may need to figure out yourself, but I trust that each of you have a high enough IQ to figure it out on your own. The ingredients are labeled and located on your desk. I expect everyone to be to be done by the time I return." With that said the Priest walked out of the room and disappeared out of sight.

Not wanting to incite Priest Zhou's temper, everyone started to work on their assignment. Raimundo finished his antidote before everyone else and found himself bored with nothing to do aside from staring at his fingernails. Yawning he looked over at Kimiko, who looked frustrated and befuddled by the instructions. He watched as she crinkled her nose and frowned at her small boiling pot. _I should help her. _He watched her a little while longer and internally weighed the pros and cons of helping her. On the one hand, she really did need help, but on the other hand, she might just bite his head off for trampling on her pride.

"Hey Kim, do you need any help?"

Looking over in his direction, she noticed, with surprise, that Raimundo was already done. She nodded her head to show that she needed help. She listened carefully as he explained to her each individual step. Admittedly, she still did not understand about a forth of what she was supposed to be doing, but having instructions dictated to her was a lot easier than following instructions that were written out. Her antidote was finished within ten minutes.

"Wow Rai, you're real good at this. I never expected you to be such a chemistry wiz." She commented while bottling up her antidote.

'I guess it's genetic._'_ Raimundo thought rather morbidly.

He responded to her with a smile and said, "It isn't a big deal. Chemistry and alchemy really isn't that hard. It's simple once you understand the basics."

Kimiko shrugged. Math and chemistry were two things that she never really understood, despite usually being ahead in the subjects. She technically already graduated high school since she skipped two grades, but she never bothered to study math or science extensively. It wasn't that she thought Raimundo was _stupid_ or anything along those lines, she just wasn't sure if he had the time to finish school, given that he was with a traveling circus for a good part of his life. Glancing back over at Raimundo, she noticed that he was helping another student who was struggling to complete his antidote.

Raimundo was a little frustrated at the shy peaked boy that asked for his help, but refused to look at him when he was talking. Raimundo's attention averted towards Antonio, who was speaking rather loudly. Two of his three cronies appeared to be laughing.

"Gee, I wonder what would happen if I did something _stupid_ with this," Antonio taunted. "Hey Raimundo, you seem to be pretty good at this. So tell me, what if I did something _stupid_ with this bottle? Do you think I can make this go 'bang'?"

Kimiko was confused by Antonio's senseless babble. She wanted to snap at him and tell him to just shut up and finish his antidote, but she concluded that Antonio's must have held some significance when, too her utter astonishment, Raimundo jumped out of his seat and proceeded to pummel Antonio into a bloody pulp.

Raimundo was beyond the realm of reason. His fist connected with Antonio's jaw and he continued to rip apart every inch of the bastard. Antonio was on the ground and blood was freely running out of his noise. Screams and yelling erupted in the room: people begged him to stop, and people encourage him to fight, but he didn't care. That comment was low, even for a dirty scumbag like Antonio. Satisfaction erupted in the pits of Raimundo's stomach every time his fist collided with Antonio's face. There was blood everywhere.

"What is going on in this room!" Priest Zhou yelled above the racket.

Priest Zhou was seething, and the circle of students that formed around the commotion quickly dispersed, allowing the priest to see the full extent of chaos.

He began muttering quick and angry words under his breath.

Raimundo was not even aware that their teacher had returned. It was only when he was pulled off the whimpering boy by Omi and the two other monks that he was brought back to reality. A bloodied Antonio was hoisted up by one of his lap dogs, and Raimundo was dragged out of the room by a very unhappy priest.

----

"Never in my career have I seen such disregard for discipline and foolish behavior." the priest mumbled while he pulled the insolent boy along.

Priest Xi Zhou was not pleased. He had woken up with a headache this morning and the last thing he needed was an impudent boy to start a fight with another boy. Leading the child outside, he stopped in front of the temple shrine.

"_Stay_." He ordered the boy. Raimundo unwillingly complied.

Walking up the stairs and into the shrine, he noticed that Master Hojo was praying. Master Hojo followed a religious routine that priests and students alike have learned to not disturb. Zhou knew he shouldn't interrupt Master Hojo's afternoon prayer, but since it was necessary, he was sure Hojo wouldn't mind the sudden interruption.

"Master Hojo, a boy from the Xiaolin temple got into a fight with one of our students in my class."

The old man nodded his head and got up. Master Hojo followed the Priest down the stairs. He recognized the boy as the Brazilian named Raimundo.

"I understand you caused quite a ruckus."

"He started it." Rai mumbled. He knew it was childish, but what else could he say? He wasn't about to tell some geezer his life story.

Master Hojo sighed in annoyance at such childish antics, but decided to be lenient this time. He had a prayer to go back to, and he did not feel like wasting an inordinate amount of time punishing a student when he had more important matters to attend to. He would have to make up the prayer time he lost, thus pushing his schedule back more than it already has been.

"I do not expect any of this behavior again. I am willing to be lenient this one time. You will scrub the cobblestone floor outside the main entrance of the temple tonight and four nights following that for a week. Am I understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now I suggest you run along to your next class. I don't like my students to be late."

Raimundo scowled as he walked to the backfield, hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. _Look on the bright side, the more chores you have to do, the less time you'll have to think about…things._

----

Antonio was pissed off. After being hauled up off the floor by his "bodyguards", he was clumsily dragged off to the temple's sorry excuse for an infirmary. Growing up on an infinite amount of stolen money, Antonio had been quite used to the good life—as in he believed in proper medical care when the time called for it. There was a mirror on the wall across from his bed, so he dragged himself over there to inspect the damage. The image that greeted him through his swollen eye sockets was to put bluntly, _gross_. His first instinct was to crawl into a hole and die. Finding no hole, Antonio settled for the next best thing and literally threw himself back onto his bed.

While, rolling on the bed in pain from the impact, Antonio began to mutter words along the lines of, "My beautiful face…"

His nose was still bleeding and probably broken, he had a fat lip, both his eyes were black, his jaw felt cracked in two, and he felt some internal bleeding going on. Technically, internal bleeding is also bruising, but he didn't know that. Antonio honestly believed that his kidneys were damaged beyond repair. He was forced to sit up again by the on of the temple priests. He snarled and hissed at the old priest working on his arm. _Can't these imbeciles be more careful? That stuff burns! _Scowling, Antonio attempted to shove the old man away. Obviously, this did not bode well with the "nurse" priest. So, to retaliate, the priest put an anti-septic on Antonio's arm without warning. A feminine shriek was heard echoing through the temple.

---

A/N: Okay, done with the chapter. I would first of all like to thank reviewers for reviewing and encourage those who aren't, to do so. Reviews are helpful in letting me know whether or not people are enjoying it. So don't forget to review. Your comments are very much appreciated, good or bad.


	4. Chapter 3

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

-----

Chapter 3: Scrubbing, Flashbacks, and Voices

Raimundo took his time walking to the backfield. He knew that was where everyone was eating lunch, but he didn't feel very much like eating. When he finally got there, he was, as expected, lectured by Omi. Kimiko, on the other hand, remained silent for the most part. He didn't really mind that she was not talking to him, just so long as she doesn't ask him anything, he'll be fine. The training class was not much different from the one back at the Xiaolin temple. After competing against different opponents, they were all let out of class to shower and eat dinner. He thought about eating dinner since he skipped lunch, but decided against it when he realized that Omi probably told Clay about his "unacceptable behavior", so he walked ahead of the group in order to slip back into the guest quarters without anyone noticing.

There was only one bathroom in the guest rooms, but he figured Kimiko could wait. He wasn't too worried about Clay or Omi needing the bathroom. They usually just stewed in their own filth until the next morning. He never took too long in the shower anyway. Closing the door, he turned on the shower and stripped down before letting the hot water roll down his back and wash off the perspiration from the training. After getting out of the shower, Raimundo dried off and changed into jeans and a navy blue shirt.

A sudden wave of pain shot through his skull, causing his hands to grip the porcelain sink in front of him to regain balance. Looking up at the mirror, Rai noticed the steam was fading away. His breathing was becoming slightly erratic, so he leaned over the sink and tried to get his breathing back to normal. He knew he wasn't doing too well, and judging by how he looked in the mirror, he wasn't looking too great either. Taking into consideration that the way his shirt hung a bit more loosely than he would've like, Raimundo was positive he was getting a bit thin. There were faint outlines of bags under his eyes, and his usually healthily tanned skin was losing some coloring. _That's probably because you haven't seen the sun much lately, genius. _

He furrowed his eyebrows. There dawned the obvious fact that it was impossible to run away from the past. He hoped that by returning to the temple and resuming his training, he would be distracted to momentarily forget the things he did not want to remember. Try as he might, it was as ridiculous and impossible trying to outrun his shadow. As much as he wanted to let go of the past and his mistakes—to let bygones be bygones—he found that he couldn't. His conscience wouldn't allow it.

As ironic as that was. A good number of people would say he didn't have one.

Though, in all honesty, it wasn't as if Raimundo was _trying _to forget. If anything, he felt the intrinsic need to constantly remind himself of his failures.

His eyes caught his reflection once more before he forced is eyelids shut, so he wouldn't have to look at himself anymore. He didn't anticipate for his mistakes to take such a vivid visual form behind his eyelids. They flashed by so quickly he felt like he was channel surfing with his thumb permanently fixed on the "CH+" button—the images changed erratically, with no order or direction. Soundless. His memories were soundless, moving too fast to read any lips. He let out a mangled sob as the slideshow began. The memories surged through his veins before colliding and lodging itself in his throat. All he could do was cry. He hated crying. It made him feel weak. _Breathe Rai. Breathe. Just let it take its course._ _Let it finish. _

Raimundo knew he hadn't been completely in the right state of mind when he climbed onto Dojo's back for the trip back to the temple. He really shouldn't have returned to Rio; there were too many memories there. His mind instantly brought him back to the day his mother died. An image of his mother being thrown back by a small explosion slid into his head. How her body curved forward slightly before hitting the opposite wall—before she was buried under piles of burning and broken wood, and before her neck snapped. He couldn't save her, and another wave of tears built up behind his eyes. He forced them to stay there. He was a careless person, and his lack of good sense brought him to a perpetual cycle of impulsive mistakes. Someone should have wrapped him up in caution tape or attached some visible warning before releasing him out into the world. He hated feeling this, hated dwelling on the past, the self pity, the guilt, the wallowing, the selfish thoughts. It made him feel pathetic, but pathetic was a pretty accurate description of him.

Loud pounding drew him out of his reverie. Someone was knocking on the bathroom door.

"Raimundo, I don't know what you're doing in there, and quite frankly, I don't care, but the water's been off for a while. I need to take a shower, so if you're indecent, you better get decent because I'm coming in." Kimiko announced, in a subtly irritated tone, from behind the door.

Raimundo's first impulse was to lunge at the door and hold it shut so he could compose himself. Unfortunately, he was too slow and was confronted by a frustrated Kimiko. He turned to face her and sheepishly smiled.

"Sorry Kimi, I didn't mean to take so long." Raimundo stepped aside and gestured towards the shower. "It's all yours."

Kimiko didn't respond right away. Raimundo raised an eyebrow. Her blue eyes locked with his green ones for a moment; they were inquisitive and searching. In that moment he became fixated on them.

_Kimiko's eyes really are quite beautiful. _

The thought flitted across his mind before he could stop it. The lightness of the blue and the white lines that cut through it created a prismatic effect that made her eyes resemble tinted glass, or even ice.

She crossed her arms over her chest and _really _looked at him. His hair was still wet and tousled from the shower, but he was already dressed. Then she noticed something she should have noticed right away; His eyes were a red "I've been crying" red.

"Rai, have you been…crying?" she inquired softly, lacing her words with pretty concern.

_Shit_ he swore in his head. He had forgotten how red his eyes got every time he cried. "Oh, no! Of course not." He said a bit too hastily. "I got shampoo in it while I was showering. It's not a big deal, really."

_Danm. That was a bad lie._

"You know Rai, if something's wrong or bothering you, you can always talk to me."

Rai was stuck. He didn't know what to do. A part of him felt it would be nice to just let it all out, but the other more reasonable and comfortable part wanted him to just keep his damn problems to himself.

_Does she really care?_

She was too curious, too searching. She wanted to know everything. His hands started to get clammy, and he swore he felt himself shaking.

"Look Kimiko," he finally got out. "I have detention in like ten minutes. I-I'll see you later."

With that, he left the bathroom and was out of sight. Kimiko's eyes reflected concern, but it was tinged with her own pervading curiosity.

-----

When he got to the main entrance, Master Hojo was already there—buckets of water, soap and wash cloths were snuggled close by his feet. The task looked no more appealing than it did before, and the surface area of the hall seemed to have doubled since he'd last been there.

"I expect you to finish scrubbing before you go to bed. No excuses." Master Hojo said before walking off to his own alcove in the temple.

Sighing, Raimundo walked over and started scrubbing. Ignoring his uncomfortably empty stomach, he worked until the floor metaphorically shone. It was then that he realized how dark it was outside. No moon, no stars, just clouds. He got up and walked back inside. Thoughts etched their way back into his mind, and it was getting harder to breathe; he wordlessly hoped his rapid breathing didn't wake anyone up.

"_Stupid child! Look at what you've done!" _

_The man's once friendly eyes were inflamed with rage and pain. _

_He hissed with justified anger. "You bring death to everything you touch. You're the fucking plague. If I could I'd have you locked away forever."_

No, he didn't want to think about this. He didn't want to know what everyone thought of him. He raised his hands and buried his head in them.

"_My daddy says that you don't deserve friends. He says you're evil, and evil people don't deserve to be happy." _

_These words were spoken by a child with eyes more brown than green. _

_It was his foolish attempt at friendship. _

He unconsciously shook his head, hopping to rid himself of the unpleasant memories.

_A small child is holding his father's hand and an ice-cream cone in the other._

"_Daddy, you're going to buy me ice-cream everyday, right?" _

_A chuckle._

"_Of course, Raimundo."_

"_Promise?"_

"_I promise."_

_It was nighttime in Rio. _

Raimundo's eyes snapped open in horror. _No. No. No. _He didn't want to think about that either.

"_Mommy, can you please play with me? Pleeaassee?" _

"_Not now, sweetie. Mommy's really busy."_

_The toddler pouts. _

"_But Mommy, you never play with me anymore. You're always taking care of Miguel or working."_

_The mother picks up her son and sets him on her lap._

"_Oh, darling, you know I love you very much, right?"_

_The toddler nods. He stops pouting._

"_Promise me you'll play with me when you're done working?" _

"_Yes, Rai, I promise."_

_The room was full of pretty little experiments. _

"Stop it!" he hissed and reflexively grabbed his head.

He silently ran to the bathroom, locking the door as he shut it. His reflection gazed back at him. There were dark circles were under his eyes from the lack of sleep, and he was paler from staying indoors so much in the summer. Glancing up at the mirror, he imagined what he would look like he could see what he looked like inside—what he would look like if he bore every mistake he made on his skin. He tore his eyes away from the mirror, repulsed by what he saw and what he felt. He choked back another sob. Was that really all he could do? Complain about his mistakes after the deed was done? He really was the fucking plague. He didn't know what he would have done if he couldn't open the box that trapped Wuya.

"Stop." Raimundo whispered instructions to himself. "Suppress your memories. Breathe, it'll pass…it'll pass…"

_**Fool, it won't go away**. _Whispered a foreign voice in his head

"I know." Raimundo didn't know why he responded. The last thing he wanted to do was add schizophrenia to his list of problems.

**_Of course. Just like you knew that shaking up those chemicals in your mummy's lab would make things go boom, right? Just like how you knew how dangerous the streets of Rio were at night. _**The voice drawled out before breaking out into hysterical laughter.

"Shut up!" he hissed at the darkness.

**_What's wrong? Are you having trouble owning up to your mistakes? Look at yourself. Your step-father was right. You really are pathetic. All you do is sit there and wallow in self-pity. _**

He shut his eyes in a futile attempt to block out the voices. He struggled to control his breathing. "Shut up."

**_Admit it, yelling, screaming and throwing temper tantrums don't help. You've tried everything, and only one thing's ever worked. That nasty little habit of yours. C'mon you know you want to._**

Reaching into his pocket, Raimundo pulled out a small razor. He didn't want to, really. He was supposed to stop, but maybe just a little wouldn't be too bad… With that he rolled up his sleeves to be greeted by silvery scars, each with a memory of its own. He brought the razor down a dragged it across his skin. For each cut he made, a little bit of pain went away. Relief washed over and he continued… A maniacal laughter that was not his own echoed in his head.

---

A/N: Cringes Did I really write that?


	5. Chapter 4

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

----

Chapter 4: Feeling Better, Feeling Worse

There was food every, well, all sorts of breakfast foods at least. There were twenty kinds of cereals, fat-rich bacon, links of sausages, and every imaginable kind of pancake and waffle. It was breakfast at the mess hall, and Raimundo could barely comprehend what his friends were saying—the slurred garble of everyone's voices and his own droopy eyelids made it particularly difficult. His arms felt like lead, and it took all the willpower in the world to lift them and pick up the cup.

"Raim_un_do! Has your mind been lost?"

A surprised Omi frantically waved his arms in front of Raimundo.

Raimundo's sleepy eyes shot open and looked at the monk before looking at his breakfast. He quirked an eyebrow up when he noticed that he had dropped a cup full of scrambled eggs in his cereal, not the strawberries he was aiming for.

"Heh, sorry Omi, didn't mean to ignore you." Raimundo yawned, eyelids still slightly drooping.

"Gee Rai, you look exhausted. I didn't think that it'd take _that_ long to scrub the floor." Kimiko said while switching Raimundo's egg-cereal with an egg free one. She rolled her eyes. As hilarious as watching Raimundo attempt to eat around the eggs seemed she really didn't want him to throw up on her on the ride back to the Xiaolin temple.

"Thanks, Kimiko. And yeah, I am pretty exhausted. Didn't get to bed right away." Raimundo grinned. He felt great today, and he loved it. The change in his mood was drastic compared to the way he'd been feeling the previous days. He almost felt like himself again.

Kimiko looked up from her cup of coffee to see Raimundo munching on his cereal. She noticed he seemed a lot more upbeat today, and he was eating again. This was a good thing, wasn't it? It meant Rai was back to normal, right? She mentally shook her head; she was being too dramatic.

"Howdy, what's that y'all eatin'. Mmm, pancakes!" said the cheery cowboy, popping Omi's pancakes into his mouth as he took his seat.

Omi looked remorsefully at his empty plate and sighed. "I was enjoying my cake of round pans."

"_Pancakes_, Omi. It's a single word." said the Brazilian before taking a sip of coffee. Ah, yes, he really needed that perk. "Besides, there's still more. Here."

"No, thank you my friend. I think I will enjoy this sugary orange substance." replied Omi while squeezing the contents of an unmarked bottle of maple syrup onto his plate, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. The other three dragons simultaneously rolled their eyes in a lighthearted manner.

"So what time do you guys' think Dojo's going to get here?" Clay inquired and looked at his watch for emphasis. "For such a wise guy, Master Fong sure picked an inconvenient schedule. Going back and forth..."

Raimundo shrugged, "Who knows. Hey, do any of you think Hojo looks like he is wearing a toupee today?"

"Raimundo! It is very disrespectful to speak of an elder in such a manner!" cried a shocked Omi.

"I don't know Omi, the top part of his hair does seem like it's about to fall off. Besides, his receding hair line isn't there anymore." stated Kimiko while squinting at the top of Master Hojo's head.

All four heads turn to watch the patch of hair, eyes deep in focus. After much anticipation and approximately five minutes, a rowdy thirteen year old boy tripped over his own foot, and bumped into Master Hojo, hard. As if in slow motion, the toupee slowly slipped off of its owner's head, dropping onto the floor. The whole cafeteria was silent. The master of the temple slowly backed out of the room, muttering to himself. Seconds later, the place erupted in laughter. Kimiko's hand was over her mouth, Clay and Raimundo were guffawing, and even Omi had his fit of giggles. The laughter, of course, died down, and the chatter continued.

After a few short conversations involving various trivial topics, the Xiaolin dragons grabbed their bags and walked outside to the front doors. As they walked towards the exit, Raimundo noticed out of the corner of his eye, that Antonio was behaving strangely. Frowning he shifted his gaze to the badly bruised Antonio, who in turn gave him an unsettling smile accompanied by a strange glint in his eye. Raimundo returned Antonio's gestures with a scowl and turned away. Raimundo's mind was submerged in confusion and his gut was telling him there was something he didn't know but should know. Shaking it off, he quickened his pace to catch up with the rest of his friends.

The quartet threw the front door open and were instantly greeted by Dojo's massive form emerging from the clouds. The dragon's underbelly graved the grass planes around the temple before coming to a slow halt on the cobblestone in front of his passengers.

"Hurry up kids, no time to chat."

They shrugged their shoulders and obediently hopped aboard.

-----

The trip was a silent one. Looking to his left, Raimundo took in a breath of air. Though Raimundo hardly felt Antonio's actions were worth the effort, his mind was still fixated on the small incident. He turned his head again to get a frontal view of the scenic surroundings, only to get a mouthful of Kimiko's freshly crimped hair.

"Kim! Your hair is in my mouth!"

"Oh shut up, Rai. Would you rather I shave my head?" snorted Kimiko.

A small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "Nah, wouldn't want an Omi look-alike on our hands."

"Leave my baldness alone!" Omi wailed. "At least _I'm_ a Xiaolin apprentice."

Kimiko winced, aware that the subject was still a sore spot for Raimundo. She released and exasperated sigh and opened her mouth to tell Omi off, but was cut off when Dojo landed on the familiar grounds of the Xiaolin Temple.

"Alright, dudes and dudette, Master Fong's going to be out here in a sec. I'm wiped out. Taking nap…" Yawning the dragon shrunk down to his smaller size before curling up comfortably on a rock.

True to Dojo's word, Master Fong emerged from the temple and motioned with his hands for his disciples to take a seat. Master Fong cleared his throat.

"First and foremost, the most important matter at hand right now is the issue of Shen Gong Wu. While you four were away, Dojo sensed a disturbance in the aura of one of the already activated Shen Gong Wu. Dojo and I spent all night trying to decipher scrolls that might be able to tell us which Shen Gong Wu may have been tampered with. I do pray that the circumstances take its time to surface." he gravely stated. "Oh, and Raimundo, I have mail for you. According to the return address I am guessing it is from your step-father?"

Master Fong stretched his arm out towards Raimundo, and watched in quiet curiosity as the young man quickly snatched the envelope from his hands and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Are you not going to read that Raimundo? It seems pretty urgent; Express Mail." Master Fong said in his omniscient tone.

Almost reluctantly, Raimundo retrieved the letter from his pocket and excused himself to a more private location. While walking, Rai contemplated why his step-father would bother to waste his time and send his "no-good" step-son a letter, let alone pay extra to have a letter delivered a few days earlier. Slowly he let his fingers slip into the small unsealed part at the edge of the envelope and tore the envelope open. Pulling out the folded piece of paper, he inspected the folded piece of paper, hoping to be able to decide if it was safe to read. Finally, he gave up and just opened it. The few words written on the letter burned his eyes while he read.

_--Boy,_

_Turns out even your insides aren't worth shit. No surprise there. Miguel's rejecting the bone marrow transplant. Get your ass back to Rio so the doctors can run more tests and figure out what's wrong. You better pray that Miguel makes it through or…--_

The rest of the letter consisted largely of threats that he honestly, was not in the mood to read. His morning started out pretty good before Antonio started to act strangely. It was almost like he _knew_, and after contemplating it, Raimundo concurred that he most probably did. He felt like someone had pushed him off the edge of a cliff. The letter became sandwiched in his clenched fists as he broke into a sprint.

---

"Master Fong, I have to go back to Rio," Raimundo said.

Master Fong opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by a peppy ring tone that emanated from Kimiko's bag. Color rose to her cheeks before she reached in to answer it. Looking down at the screen, it flashed 'Keiko Tachikawa'

"Hey, Keiko!"

The smile on Kimiko's face faded and contorted into a small "o", and her brows furrowed. "What? Slow down Mrs. Tachikawa. I can't understand a word you're saying…"

A frantic voice could be heard on the other end of the phone, and the longer it spoke, the wider Kimiko's eyes got. Kimiko whispered a strangled "bye" before hanging up. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Master Fong.

"Keiko's in the hospital. There was a really bad car accident. She's in intensive care right now..." she managed to choke out. "Do you think I can go back to Tokyo, Master Fong?"

Solemnly, albeit somewhat reluctantly, Master Fong nodded, "I suggest you two go pack your things. I'll wake Dojo and have him drop you two off at Rio and Tokyo. I understand the necessity returning to your respective countries, but keep in mind that under the present circumstances, I am not comfortable about letting you two miss much-needed training."

Kimiko and Raimundo nodded, indicating that they understood the situation.

----

Silently, the two warriors walked down to their rooms and started to stuff random articles of clothing into their duffel bags. Just as silently, they walked back to the front steps. Omi was about to question the two, but abruptly stopped when Clay whispered that it probably wasn't the wisest of choices. Clay directed his short friend back into the temple and left the other two to their thoughts.

"Clay, do you think Kimiko and Raimundo will be okay?"

"I don't know, Omi. We don't even _know_ what happened on Rai's part, but I know it's something bad. They need to sort it out in their own heads b'fore our presence is needed. When it is, we'll be there for em'."

Omi sighed and looked up into the sky. Storm clouds were starting to form, covering the sun. _Troubled skies signal danger up ahead._ The monk whispered in his head, gaze transfixed on the swirling clouds. Unbeknownst to him, the same thought had crossed the mind of the wise Master at the opposite end of the temple.

---

She wanted to burst into tears, but her pride wouldn't let her. It felt awful knowing that she couldn't do anything to help Keiko. Keiko was her best friend, and Kimiko really didn't know what she'd do without her. Being away at the Xiaolin Temple so much of the year had put a strain on their rocky friendship. Things hadn't been peaches and cream with the inseparable pair when Kimiko took off to train at the temple. Sure, Kimiko would talk to Keiko over the phone, but the connection they had was missing, cellular and else wise. Kimiko closed her eyes, remembering the day she first met Keiko.

_.:Flashback:._

_A petite six year old girl with pigtails sat on the front porch of massive house in a suburban neighborhood. Bored crystal eyes observed curiously as a blonde headed girl sat down on the stairs of her own house. Kimiko cocked her head the side as the blonde girl started to draw on the sidewalk with a dark piece of chalk and slowly walked over to greet the other girl. After all, she was new to this area, and she wanted to make new friends, however short the friendship may last. Her dad's job required him to move around a lot, business meetings and all. So, she never stayed in one place for too long, and thus, was never able to make any long-term friendships. _

"_Hi. My name's Kimiko." She said in an upbeat voice._

_The other girl looked up; streaks of dried tears still adorned the sides of her face._

"_Hey." the blonde whispered back._

_Pigtails bobbed back and forth as she walked closer to her potential friend. Kimiko knew she shouldn't intrude on such a private moment, but the girl looked sad, and when people were sad, she felt obligated to try to cheer them up. _

"_That's a very pretty picture." Kimiko said, sitting down beside the stranger_

_The blonde turned her head in Kimiko's direction, her locks of barely there waves slipping from behind her ear. "You really think so? It's a picture of my sister."_

"_Uh huh. You have a very pretty sister." Kimiko said._

"_Had. I **had** a very pretty sister." _

_Kimiko felt bad now, she didn't mean to upset the other girl. She only wanted to make a new friend. She was about to get up and leave when a voice stopped her. _

"_It was a car accident. She was hit by a drunk driver. She passed away about an hour ago."_

_Kimiko nodded, and they both sat in a comfortable silence. After about an hour of watching the other girl draw on the sidewalk, the blonde broke the silence._

"_My name's Keiko, by the way."_

_They smiled at each other and went back to their previous activity. They had a sleepover and talked about various topics, none of which involved sisters, drunkards, or cars. They did this every year since. _

_.:End Flashback:._

Kimiko opened her eyes and looked at her shoes. Her and Keiko were opposites, yet similar in so many ways. From that day forward, she and Keiko had formed a bond that seemed adamantine until approximately eleven months ago. Looking up from her shoes, she saw Raimundo standing in front of her, duffel bag draped over a side of his shoulder.

"C'mon Kimi, Dojo's ready."

Nodding she got up, tailing Raimundo as they ambled to the green dragon. No sound came from either as they loaded the dragon with their belongings and themselves. A rustling or the leaves and a swift wind echoed as the dragon kicked off into a grey and swirling sky.

----

A/N: Yep, I'm back, and my only homework assignment this weekend is tons of reading. But, I'm a fast reader, so no problamo! I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter. I'm surprisingly pleased with it, so I probably won't revise it a million times. As for those who reviewed my forth installment, thanks a bunch.

--Arch Butterfly


	6. Chapter 5

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

----

Chapter 5: Coming Home

Passing swiftly through the clouds, Dojo's first stop was Tokyo, the closer of the two destinations. The trip to the Tokyo hospital took longer than expected due to the sudden change in the weather. Dojo himself had always found great difficulty in navigating through unpleasant weather conditions, storm clouds and unnatural gusts of wind were no exception. The green dragon held back on complaints knowing it would've inappropriate and landed on the roof of the hospital.

"Your stop, Kimiko."

"Thanks, Dojo" was her whisper of a reply.

Kimiko's eyes darted to Raimundo for a split second, and saw that his mind had taken off somewhere, lost in its thoughts. Hopping off of the dragon Kimiko handed her bags to one of the five bulky bodyguards her father hired. Not bothering to wave a goodbye, she followed the bodyguards down a flight of stairs and into the hospital, and closer she got inside, the more obvious the smell of sickness and latex were. She sighed. _Here goes…_

-----

Raimundo brought his mind back to reality when he felt the hollow, yet homey feeling of Brazil near him. Looking ahead, he expected to see the beautiful beaches and serene landscape, but what he saw shocked him. It was still pretty warm, but not nearly as hot as Brazil was supposed to be and the ocean looked _moody_. It was evening, and anywhere else, a lowering of temperature would be expected, but this was Rio, and Rio never cooled down. Thinking back, Raimundo realized it'd been cold back at Tokyo _and_ the Temple. Something was up, something big was going on, and sooner or later, it was going to rear its ugly head. He mentally smacked himself upside the head. He forgot to tell Dojo where to land, and bearing in mind that the dragon was circling impatiently, he quickly directed him to the cancer research center/hospital.

"Thanks, Dojo. I think you can pick me up tomorrow afternoon."

A grunt of a reply was all he got. Dojo seemed…uncomfortable, for a lack of a better word. Raimundo wondered briefly if Dojo was sensing a Shen Gong Wu. He shook his head. Besides, even if there was one, he wouldn't have the time to retrieve it. He had a half-brother to worry about right now. The automatic front doors swung opened and he was inside. A nurse, recognizing him, gave him a pass and reminded him where Miguel was. Raimundo felt the color drain from his face while he climbed up the flight of stairs leading to the leukemia patients. A wave of nausea hit him when memories started to flood his mind.

_:.Flashback.:_

"_- the actual procedure is called harvesting. We put you under an anesthesia, a general or regional one before sticking several needles into your pelvic bone. The entire harvesting process takes about an hour." stated Dr. Simmons. _

_Raimundo nodded his head. Daring a glance at his family, he knew there was no turning back now. The death glare his step-father sent him meant nothing, but the pleading look Miguel gave him was enough to convince him. _

_Raimundo sighed; he had a bad feeling, "I-I'll donate my bone marrow…"_

"_Alright then! I need you to fill out and sign a few forms," Said the doctor. "And Mr. __Arias, I also need you to sign a few legal documents yourself. With those out of the way, we can start as soon as tonight."_

_---_

_Several hours later…_

_It was almost 6 p.m. and Raimundo was reading on book on a chair by Miguel's bed. Since his step-father needed to go back to work for a few hours, he was ordered to watch his brother. So far, he was clocking six hours and counting. Looking at Miguel, he saw how different his brother looked. Miguel's thick brown hair had fallen off from all the chemo and a blue beanie covered his exposed scalp. When Raimundo was back from the temple, he expected to see the same spoiled brat he knew years ago, instead Miguel's leukemia was thrown in his face. Martin never bothered to try to contact Raimundo to tell him about his younger brother's condition. No surprise there, he knew his step-father hated him. Coming back to Rio, he was told that Miguel was diagnosed with __acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL at age ten, three years ago when Raimundo was thirteen and with the traveling circus. Miguel had recurring leukemia and this bone marrow transplant was his last hope to get rid of the disease. The one word that could've described the Miguel Raimundo knew would have simply been "brat". This Miguel, in contrast, was a lot more introverted and collective. Hearing the hospital sheets rustle, Raimundo averted his attention from his book and redirected it to the source of the noise. _

_He saw Miguel carefully lifted himself up to a sitting position and turned to face his brother. After getting his brother's attention, Miguel turned to look straight ahead._

"_Thanks. You know, for doing this transplant thing. Even if it doesn't work…" he said, turning to Raimundo. "I was surprised you agreed to this, but I guess really shouldn't be. You're a good person, Rai, and one day the world's gonna stop disappointing you so much."_

_Raimundo's eyes widened a little, taken aback by Miguel's words. Without thinking, Raimundo heard his thoughts slip through his lips. _

"_I've done some disappointing myself. I'm just paying the price." Raimundo said, thinking back to the Wuya resurrection and his betrayal. _

_Miguel shrugged, "Everyone makes mistakes, it's not like you intentionally go out of your way to hurt people."_

_Choosing not to respond, Raimundo instead looked outside the window. He knew that he **did **intentionally hurt his friends, and there was no excuse for it. _

"_Stop brooding, it's not going to get you anywhere." Miguel said, rolling his eyes before he became serious again. "Just know that I'm sorry for what I said to you before. I know they're just a bunch lies Martin made up."_

"_They're not all lies…" Raimundo whispered; more to himself than anyone. "And when did you start calling your dad 'Martin'?"_

"_Ever since he thought it was okay to make me train for the football team while I was in rehab." Miguel replied, anger seeping through to his voice. A hint of sadness was still apparent in his eyes in regard to his half-brother's comment. _

_Aware of the seriousness of their conversation, Raimundo started to feel uncomfortable. He inadvertently spewed out personal information about himself he very much didn't want people to know about. But, it was…family, he figured, that he was talking to. Raimundo felt the irony of Miguel, of all people, being the one he'd bond with. The two them not getting along before was an understatement. _

"_Hey, do you need anything to drink? If you're cold I-I can get you another blanket…" Raimundo stuttered, feeling the need to redirect their conversation._

"_No, I'm good." Miguel said, getting the hint, but not before he had his last say, "Hey, thanks again… big bro…"_

_Raimundo cast him a small smile, "No problem…little brother."_

_Raimundo started to read his book again and looking back at his brother, he noticed that Miguel was reading too. That was another shocker; Miguel liked to read. Thinking about it, he knew it wasn't such a surprise; they were after all, their mother's sons. _

_---_

_At around 8 p.m., His step-father, Martin, returned to the hospital for Miguel's transplant. Miguel wasn't going to get the BMT until the next morning because the bone marrow needed to be processed to remove the blood and bone fragments. Lying down on the hospital bed, the doctors placed a gas mask of his nose and mouth, before he started to doze off into oblivion…_

_:.End Flashback.:_

Obviously Raimundo had no idea what went on during the operation, but after waking up four weeks later, he found out that his body went into shock and slipped into a coma. This confused the hell out of the docters. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that the _donor _goes into shock. Raimundo recalled coming back into consciousness a few times and according to the doctors, almost died as well. After waking up, he couldn't really move, and had to stay in the hospital for a few days. He still didn't completely understand why his body did what it did, but he hypothesized that it had something to do with his being a Xiaolin Dragon. As Raimundo approached Room 512, Miguel's room, he noticed the door was left ajar and voices were flooding out of it.

"-understand that this does not mean Miguel won't get better. In fact, he is improving."

"Yeah, well it doesn't look like he's getting any better! He has seizures!"

"Now I told you Mr. Arias, your son is **not** having seizures, he's experiencing epilepsies-"

Raimundo rolled his eyes; like a Neanderthal, Martin was shaking his fists and grunting at the doctor. Pushing the door open, he caught the doctor's attention, causing Dr. Simmons to quickly stroll over to Raimundo's direction, probably hoping to distance himself from the angry father.

"Ah! Raimundo, I'm glad to see that you're here. As your step-father might have explained to you in a letter, Miguel started to reject the bone marrow transplant about 2 days ago. Oh, take a seat." Dr. Simmons started. "The strange thing is, when this happens, it's usually graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, but it's not. Miguel has instead been experiencing epilepsies. None of his organs are damaged from it, but we are concerned whether or not this is permanent. I've checked your medical records and you have very good health. So, I don't really understand what's happening. The upside is that Miguel's symptoms appeared have been digressing since morning and hasn't had an epilepsy since about 5 hours ago. Any questions, Raimundo?"

Raimundo bit his lower lip nervously, "Did the transplant work? Is his leukemia gone I mean."

"As far as we know, there aren't any cancer cells left, but whether or not it'll come back, I'm not so sure." Dr. Simmons replied. "Miguel's sleeping right now. He'll probably wake up soon, but until then, feel free to go down to the kitchens to get something to eat. And Mr. Arias, I believe you have a few more questions to ask? Follow me, please."

Raimundo took a seat beside Miguel's bedside while the doctor and Martin walked down the hall. He sighed and leaned back on the chair and waited for Miguel to wake up. After five minutes of listening to the second hand of the clock tick, Raimundo gave up and left to the kitchens. As the door behind him clicked shut, a pair of eyes cracked open from a false slumber.

---

Miles away at the Xiaolin Temple, a nervous Dojo was "pacing" across a wooden table, waiting for Master Fong. After dropping Raimundo off at Rio de Janeiro, Dojo felt a **major **disturbance in a Shen Gong Wu, and this time, Dojo knew which one it was.

"Dojo? What is the matter?" asked Master Fong.

"Master Fong! There's something wrong with one of the Guardian Shen Gong Wu. I-I think it's the Ice Guardian, but I can't be sure, but we have to do something!" screamed a fanatical Dojo, clutching Master Fong's collar.

Master Fong raised a worried eyebrow at the dragon before prying him off. "Dojo, even if something has happened to alter the magical waves of the Shen Gong Wu, we are not able to do anything until the actual problem itself is presented to us. We will just have to wait…"

"Well, old wise one, the weather's showing some telltale signs a problem…" Dojo retorted.

Tired blue eyes traveled to the scene outside while he let out a sigh. This definitely wasn't good news, and when the problem presents itself, it was certainly going to be a difficult one. Master Fong just hoped that there was enough time to prepare for it.

---

Raimundo stood outside, scowling at his step-father.

"Boy, go back to my house. I don't want your filth anywhere near Miguel." scowled the oh-so-nice Martin.

Raimundo shot a glare at his step-father, "It's NOT your house. That house belonged to my father and I inherited it!"

"You dare talk to me like that! You should be grateful that I let you even stay in that house because I KNOW that you don't get it until you turn 18. Besides, your filthy dad isn't around." Martin said, feeling smug. "Don't give me that look boy. I called a cab, so get out of my face."

"Gladly. The fewer minutes of my life I spend around you, the better." Raimundo boldly shot back before marching to the cab.

---

Ascending the steps of the manor, Raimundo made a left and prepared to unlock the door to his father's art studio, but was stunned when he saw the doorknob ripped out of its place, the door slightly open. He was scared. He knew that Martin must have ripped it out, and he didn't want to what else his step-father did. Nothing could've prepared him for what he saw. Where the indescribably remarkable paintings his father created once stood, was devastating to look at. The paintings were torn apart and ripped from their frames, the glass scattered all over the floor. The paintings were all he had left of his father, and Martin knew that. He wanted to cry so badly. Cry for his father's work, cry for his loss, and cry for the memories of his parents that was starting to fade, but he couldn't. He just fell to his knees and let the glass dig into his palm while a voice in his head laughed at his despair.

---

A/N: Oh, my gosh! How long has it been? I am SO sorry I didn't get this out sooner. I've been extremely busy with school assignments, play rehearsal, and my ballet recitals. I still am, but I managed to salvage my time and produce this chapter. I hope it compensates for the long wait. I'm beginning to think this was a crummy chapter though. Blach. I would like to thank to all my patient readers and reviewers, which I am incredibly grateful to have. And of course…

-Kendricks Alashane- Thanks so much for reviewing! The thing is, I already started typing this chapter a few days after I posted my fourth one, but everything just got way too hectic and I couldn't get it done. I'm getting a little worried that the intensity is starting to die down, but hopefully I'll get it worked out.

-DeathRealm- Yeah, I like typing longer chapters, so expect them to be pretty lengthy (like this chapter). Thanks for being patient in waiting for an update and KUTGW apparently stands for "keep up the good writing (work?)"

-Kristen- Yeah, I did want to update!

-ThessalyD- Well, I'm sincerely hoping that this'll be good.

-ElfinSorceress0503- Thanks. Raimundo probably won't be "okay" for a while, and you'll know the happenings of Keiko and Kimiko next chapter (hopefully it won't take as long to get out).

-A Minor Pentatonic- squeals and hug Me like flattery! Lol, it's awesome that you like the mysteries I've thrown in. I look foreword to your feedback. 

-DesiredStorm- Yeah, I want my reviewers to know that I very much appreciate their reviews and time, so I take the liberty to respond to each of you. And yes, it's okay to add me to your list. What does TTFN mean? I'm rather abbreviation challenged.

-DerryBabe- Thanks for telling me what that means and I'm super glad you like the story.

-Link007- Awesome! You got the bone marrow thingy!

-A special thanks to my best friend in the entire world, Autumn, (even though she doesn't know this story exists. : P) for helping me sort out all my problems.

---

A/N: The next chapter is going to be mostly Kimiko's side of events and will focus more on the "getting to know the characters". It's going to get a tad action/adventure-y further into the story. Just a heads up.

---DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! ---


	7. Chapter 6

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter. I also do not own the designer labels Yves Saint Laurent, Diane Von Furstenberg or Marc Jacobs. As nice as the thought sounds; it's just not going to happen. I do, however, own some of the products, which is good enough for me.

A/N: I'm temporarily off my hiatus for Recollections, but this might be the only chapter in a while. I still don't particularly like Xiaolin Showdown, but I want to see where my plot goes. (Seeing as ff. net doesn't seem to like my preferred page breaks, said paid breaks will now be "OOO")

'Thoughts'

_Thoughts or Flashbacks_

(OOO)

Chapter 6: Standing Still

(OOO)

Kimiko was bored. Kimiko was tired, and the waiting room chairs did nothing to ease her physical and emotional discomfort. She inwardly moaned at the fact that she'd been sitting on a chair for about three hours. Her butt was getting sore from sitting down for an excessive period of time. She made a move to get up and get away from the harsh fluorescent lights that were threatening to eat her alive-or maybe it was the fear that her best friend was in a room somewhere, barely clinging onto to life. _God, I'm so selfish. Keiko's in surgery and all I can think of is how uncomfortable I am._ She had always been selfish, hadn't she? Her selfishness was always something she'd personally tried to push aside and cover up with her "self-reliant" attitude. She was always out to prove that she could do better, and be the best at everything. She was always at the top of her class-in intelligence, talent, and popularity-and she always did it without needing some manly shoulder to lean on, or any shoulder for the matter. The truth was, whichever way Kimiko twisted it, she knew that she had always been and always will be vain, spoilt, and selfish. Of course, her friends were always one of her top priorities, but it wasn't as if the voice inside her that whispered "Me! Me! Me!" wasn't there. Kimiko was, at least to some degree, self-absorbed, but that didn't mean she didn't care. Her eyes drooped at the reiterating sounds of silence and hushed voices lulled over.

_:.Flashback.:_

"_Daddy?" _

"_Yes, Kimiko?"_

_An ebullient seven year old girl lit up in sheer delight. The simple phrase of, "Yes, Kimiko?" gave her an opening to ask her dad a very important question. She diligently practiced the art of playing the piano since she was four, and she was finally granted to opportunity to display her hard work. She was the only seven year old in the "very prestigious"-as her mother put it-Tokyo Academy of Music to be playing at Level Seven. She was so proud, and she wanted her daddy to be there-for once. Kimiko already knew her mother was coming. It was "appropriate" for her mother to come, but she wanted her father to be there to watch her. _

_Kimiko smiled, "Well, my piano recital's in three days, and I wanted you to come, daddy. Please? It'd mean a lot to me."_

_Sparing his daughter the rare glance, Nathaniel Toho sighed, "Kimiko, you know how full my schedule is," another sigh, "but I can try. What time is your recital?"_

"_Eight o'clock! Promise me you'll try to be there on time! Okay, daddy?" Kimiko shouted gleefully. _

"_I promise, Kimiko."_

_Smiling, Kimiko ran back to the piano room to practice. She wanted to be perfect. _

_Three days came, and the clock read, "7:50 p.m.". Ice blue eyes peeked through the thick velvet curtains in hopes of find her father seated by her mom, only to find one of her mother's expensive purses in her dad's seat. 'He'll be here soon.' she reassured herself. Eight o'clock came and went, and still no sign of her dad. A reception followed the performances, but Kimiko chose to ignore the praise she received from androgynous faces. _

"_Oh my gosh! Miko, you sounded so great up there!" _

_Kimiko turned, recognizing the voice, and smile, "Thanks, Keiko."_

_Kimiko was disappointed that he dad didn't show up, but she wasn't about to make Keiko sad too. Kimiko reassured herself that her father was just too busy, that he tried, but couldn't make it. She'd just have to try harder next time. Ballet recitals came and went. Her tap dancing, kick-boxing, and jujitsu competitions rolled by. Her academic awards and child roles in Musicals went unnoticed. She excelled at everything, but her dad's seat in the auditoriums remained empty. _

_(OOO)_

_At fourteen, Kimiko had grown used to her father's unexplained absences in her life. Any potential they had at creating a strong father-daughter bond was gone. Kimiko loved her dad and respected his opinion, but their relationship really just consisted of Kimiko asking for a new credit card, or nifty new gadget. At fourteen, Kimiko also came to the conclusion that she and her mother didn't quite get along, which sort of brought her to where she was now-dress shopping for the ball her parents were throwing for her fifteenth birthday._

"_Kim, honey, how do I look?" Adele Toho questioned while modeling an overly extravagant gown by Yves Saint Laurent._

_Looking up from her magazine, Kimiko dully replied, "Great."_

_Short, curt answers were usually what Kimiko gave her mother. In fact, Kimiko frequently avoided conversing with her mother if she could help it. _

_Adele sighed, she knew wasn't exactly the best mother in the world, but Kimiko was a…difficult child. Crossing her arms, Adele gave Kimiko an apprehensive gaze, "Can we have just one decent afternoon together?"_

_Kimiko responded with a not very lady-like snort, and proceeded to flip through her magazine. Frustrated, Adele walked up to her daughter and snatched the magazine out of Kimiko's hands. _

"_I was reading that." Kimiko glared. _

"_I just wanted to spend some mother-daughter time together. We don't talk enough." Adele said, exasperated._

"_Well, I guess you should have thought of that before you shipped me off to boarding school." Kimiko snapped back as she got up. "Why do you even try? It's not like you even care about me or dad."_

"_What is that supposed to mean, Kimiko?" Adele's voice was barely above a whisper._

_Kimiko smirked, she knew she'd won, "I'm not so naïve to think that you wouldn't leave my dad the moment the stocks drop, and the company collapses."_

"_Kimiko, I love your father," Adele responded, "And don't you-"_

"_Of course you love him." Kimiko replied hollowly. _

_All Adele could do was stand and watch her daughter walk away from her. _

_(OOO)_

_Kimiko stood in a sea of mindless chatter, tapping her fingers on the tables she was leaning against. She opted for a black and white dress by Diane Von Furstenberg, and loaned Keiko her blue Marc Jacobs dress. The ballroom they rented at some fancy hotel Kimiko couldn't remember was basked in chandeliers, orangey lighting. Four long tables were laid out against the walls, while waiters with plates of finger food, and wine adorned the floors. _

"_Hey, Kimiko, I'm going to see if I can find any water amongst the growing number of alcoholic beverages." Keiko said whilst waving her hands in front of Kimiko's glazed eyes and expression. _

"_Oh! Sorry. Heheh. Actually, Keiko, I'm sure you can just ask one of the waiters to get you some water." Kimiko replied, snapping out of her reverie. _

_The blonde stalked over to the nearest waiter and demanded some, er, freaking water before returning to her friend. _

"_Honestly, I don't even know why your 'rents throw you such humungous birthday parties. It's not like you have much fun at them." Keiko said light-heartedly, but Kimiko couldn't help but detect something else. _

_Kimiko shrugged, "It's just an excuse for my mom to throw a party and publicize herself."_

_It was Keiko's turn to frown, "Well, your parents include your dad too. Don't you think he did this to make you happy?"_

"_You said so yourself, I never have fun at these parties. My dad's just too busy to notice." Kimiko answered bitterly. 'What's Keiko getting at?'_

"_You never seem to give your parents a break Kimiko," Keiko whispered, before her voice changed to a harsher tone, "They give you everything."_

_Kimiko was furious, "Yes, Keiko, I do get things I want. Material things. I can never have the kind of relationship you have with your family." _

"_What good is that when I have to work two part time jobs and study twenty-four hours a day to pay for school and keep my scholarship." Keiko spat._

_Kimiko opened her mouth to respond, but Keiko cut her off, "And you make me come to your stupid parties, and I'm stuck borrowing one of your dresses because not everyone can afford to buy the things that you can." Keiko paused to catch her breath. "You're just so fucking selfish, Kimiko. You take everything for granted."_

"_Oh, shut up, Keiko! Do you think I enjoy this? Do you honestly think I enjoy standing around at what's supposedly my birthday party while my mom only invites hoards of middle-aged socialites who look about twenty with all the cosmetic surgery they've had done?" Kimiko shouted, unaware that all eyes were now on her. _

_Kimiko never thought jealousy would be what tore their friendship apart. She thought they were above that. Everyone stopped to watch as an angry Adele stormed after her daughter._

"_Kimiko, come back here!"_

"_Kimiko!"_

"_Kimiko!"_

_:.End Flashback.:_

"Kimiko."

The owner of the voice was gently shaking her shoulders, and waking up, Kimiko came saw with a pair of brown eyes, and long black hair.

"Mrs. Tachikawa?"

Keiko's mother smiled a slightly forced smile and nodded. "Keiko's out of intensive care now and the doctors say she'll be fine. Would you like to go see her?"

Not trusting her voice, Kimiko just nodded and let Mrs. Tachikawa usher her to Keiko's hospital room. Kimiko sat down in the chair beside Keiko's bed and stared, a bit shocked, at how pale her friend was. Keiko's vibrant blonde hair was dull, and the bouncy curls were now limp waves.

"Would you like something to drink, Kimiko?" Fumiko Tachikawa asked.

Kimiko shook her head, "No, I'll be fine."

"The doctor said she'll come-to soon." Fumiko added as she closed the door.

Looking at the charts, Kimiko saw that Keiko now had a concussion, a broken arm (her left), and various bruises. Kimiko noted that Keiko's head was bandaged from where it hit the steering wheel.

'How could you of all people get into a car accident?' Kimiko thought to herself. 'You always said you'd be super-careful on the road ever since your sister died all those years ago…'

Kimiko wish she'd brought her bags with her. That way, she'd have something to do while she waited, but her body guard insisted that she let him handle her bags.

"Miko, is that you?" Keiko's voice broke the ubiquitous beeping noise that recorded her heart rate. "What are you doing her?"

Kimiko looked up to see that Keiko had woken up. Hazel eyes bore into blue ones.

"What kind of question is that?' Kimiko said light-heartedly. "You're my best friend…why wouldn't I be here?"

Both questions were meant to be rhetorical, but neither of the two girls really wanted to hear the answers. It had been eleven months since the incident, and their friendship was far from what it used to be. Awkward silences never existed with the two, but there were still some unresolved issues that hung in the air. All they could do was sit and walk blindly ahead, and watch their friendship disintegrate.

(OOO)

A/N: Not my best work, but I only had half an hour. I might not update in a while, but I didn't want to leave whatever readers I had left hanging with Kimiko's side of the story. I thank you for your patience.

Elemental-Zero- I'm terribly sorry, but I have returned, however brief my return may be. The thing is, I've never really been interested in Xiaolin Showdown. This writing project of mine was more of a way for me to see how decent of a thing I can write with 20-30 minutes.

Snowmouse- I'm sort of back.

anime-lover93- Here it is! And thank you.

unknown- I'm touched, that you think so. I can't stop writing considering I still have to go to school as soon as the school year resumes, and that I happen to be part of the Journalism crew.

TamerTerra-Alright. Wait, what break?

music man-I hope you're still reading! It's been a long wait.

A Minor Pentatonic- I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, I wanted to give the guy something positive, so I had him and his brother make-up.

Pink-Positive- Tank you, and sorry about your computer

Addicted to Perfection- Thank you. I try to avoid too many spelling and grammar errors.

Mitchy- Thanks.

Griffin kid-It's a bit late, but if you're still reading, I hope you enjoy.

Kendricks Alashane- Thank you.

Butterfly in the Dark- I like your username, haha. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things and lack of interest in the show in general got in the way. P

DesiredStorm- Oh, okay then. Thank you for your patience.

DerryBabe-Well my other fic is officially dead. The plot wasn't very good and it bored me. I hope you haven't died considering how long it's taken me to update…

Link007-As you can see, school and extracurricular activities have taken over. I actually have been writing, I just haven't been writing for ff. net.

OOO

Don't forget to review. If enough people like this, it might motivate me to write the next chapter. I'm not one to beg for reviews, but it's necessary in letting me know whether or not it's worth my time.


	8. Chapter 7

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

A/N: Surprise, surprise, I actually decided to type up the next chapter. It's probably not the best time, considering I'm in a car. **I think there was a bit of confusion in the last two chapters. I don't think people were aware of the time zone differences. In actuality, Tokyo is 12 hours ahead of Rio de Janeiro. So, for example right now, it is Thursday 6:08 A.M. in Tokyo, and Wednesday 6:08 P.M. in Rio. The last two chapters were meant to/took place in about the same time frame. Kimiko arrived in Tokyo in the afternoon. When Raimundo arrived in Rio, it was dark. Basically, the events of the last two chapters, and this chapter, take place more or less simultaneously. **

**I guess a special thanks should go out to tv . com, which sort of updated me on what happened in season two of this show. (Seeing that I only saw the first two episodes, "Pandatown", and snippets of other random episodes…)**

**If there was any confusion, Miguel is thirteen now, and Raimundo is sixteen. I believe I made an error in chapter 5 or 6.**

'Thoughts'

_Thoughts or Flashbacks (haven't figured out which one to stick to)_

(OOO)

Chapter 7: Picking up the Pieces

(OOO)

Raimundo grimaced each time the bottoms of his shoes would step on the pieces of glass that were still strewn about the floor. He didn't particularly enjoy the sound it made. He sighed and stared gloomily at the floor. Raimundo had spent the better part of the night just sitting in a corner, letting everything sink in. In fact, he didn't decide to finally get up until the orangey-pink hues of dawn started to filter itself through the dusty window. "…_one day the world's gonna stop disappointing you so much."_ Raimundo snorted at his train of thought.

'It's bad karma, baby,'" Raimundo remembered, 'and there ain't nothin' you could do about it.'

It was what the woman said to his father before shooting him in the head. It was all that he could hear in his mind when it happened. _Idiot, don't think about that._ Violently clutching the broom handle, Raimundo continued to finish what he started to do. There was now a relatively large pile of glass in the center of the room, and the remains of the paintings were stacked neatly on the dusty coffee table. He continued to sweep the floor clear of glass, only occasionally sparing the old grandfather clock a glance. He honestly didn't care what time it was. As long as he had something to distract himself with, Rai found that it was pretty easy to forget about all the unpleasant things that seemed to slip into his mind. His current task at hand was cleaning up the studio and locking away what remained of his father's work.

A soft chine emanated from the clock when the minute hand hit the 60 minute mark, indicating that it was now six in the morning. Raimundo snapped out of his trance to find the room nearly spotless. He was tired, but at the same time, he'd never felt more awake. He set the broom against the wall, and grabbed the pile on the coffee table. His eyes cast downwards for a moment, and saw something he didn't see before. Beside a leg of the coffee table was half of the doorknob that was so crudely removed from its door. With a bitter and soundless laugh, Raimundo added the doorknob to the pile of glass. Pausing to actually look at the current state of the room, Raimundo wistfully noted that the room looked exactly like what his father would've loved to paint. He paused for a brief moment, whilst wishing, though a bit cynically, that he had a camera with him. _I'm probably not going the see Rio or the old manor in a while…it's not like I'm going to miss the place too much, though. There isn't much left for me here. Sorry, dad. I guess I've let you down too. _He quietly shut the door behind him, as if he didn't want to disturb the ghost of the feeling of family that still lingered in the room.

(OOO)

As much as Kimiko was grateful to be able to see and know that Keiko as okay, she couldn't help but feel_ more _grateful thatKeiko's doctor came in the room and made her leave. She looked at the clock and realized that it was only a quarter past five in the evening, which confused her. It was already dark enough outside to easily see each of the lights that lit Tokyo. Brushing the mundane train of thought aside, she wished Keiko well, and the two said their goodbyes. Kimiko frowned when she was positive Keiko couldn't see her face. It was one of those goodbyes that people said to people the met and became "friends" with over summer camp or class.

"Let's just hope for the best," Kimiko mumbled to herself, then looking up and said more loudly, "Hey, Jim."

Jim was her bodyguard who was very much a depiction of every "body-guard" stereotype in the media. Decked out in a black suit, wide shoulders, an earphone, and at least four guns "cleverly" hidden on his person, Kimiko always felt embarrassed to have him walk beside her. Then, again, she could be underestimating the guy. She snorted out loud. It was an odd habit she picked up to annoy her mom. Kimiko knew she was getting sleepy when she nearly rammed herself into the stomach of an overweight teenager. She cringed when she noticed the boy's fingers were coated in jelly she assumed was from a jelly-doughnut. A shiver of disgust ran through her spine to think that she had touched the kid.

"Watch it!" she snarled at the boy, ignoring that she was the one being careless.

Kimiko watched with mild satisfaction as the boy recoiled in fear. _Maybe I _**_should_**_ look into some anger management. _It amused her knowing that that was what Clay and Raimundo have been suggesting, hours after they met her. Omi, as expected, wasn't unaware that such a thing existed.Her eyelids were still drooping. She tried blinking herself awake, bit failed miserably. She barely registered that she was inside the limo when she succumbed to her exhaustion. One thing she did notice was how warm she felt.

_:.Dream Sequence.:_

_Opening her eyes, Kimiko could see that the night air was fuzzy with the fumes, and smoke. It was dark outside, as the moon wasn't anywhere to be seen. Her surroundings were lit only by a suffocating red glow. Looking straight ahead, she saw something that made her gasp aloud. She couldn't tell if it was the Xiaolin temple, or some other place, but she was definitely aware that it was on fire. To her surprise, she ran straight towards the burning temple. _

_Kimiko kept running, ignoring the embers in the air that licked her cheeks. She knew it was a dream, but everything felt so real. As she got closer, she could see monks running around in panicked frenzy. Everyone was shouting and screaming. She saw that they were trying to douse the fire by using water magic, but it did little to no effect on the state of the flames. _

'_What happened?' Kimiko's thought reverberated though the dreamscape. _

"_Hey! What happened?" Kimiko shouted, this time, out loud-whilst waving her arms in a futile attempt to get anyone's attention. _

_ It was a stupid question, really, but she needed to know what was going on. Something inside her told her that it was important to know. No one responded to her call. A familiar looking monk was running towards her general direction, but when she reached out to try and grab him, he went right through her. Kimiko stood there, lost. She didn't understand the logic in this dream. She could feel, see, and hear everything, but no one could see, feel, or hear her. _

_Looking left and right, she saw something she didn't see before-a wide path of charred grass. Following her instincts, she followed said path with caution. It was almost like Mozart's Requiem started to play in her mind, getting louder as she got closer to where the path led. The grass got darker as she got closer, and the heat grew more intense. It didn't matter to her. She was the Dragon of Fire after all. The screams and shouts grew more distant, and a chanting in a foreign language could be heard more clearly. Kimiko started running. She was so close to what she needed to see. She came to a halt and gazed at what was in front of her. Her skin felt warmer. _

_There, with her very eyes were two long doors with metal handle-bars. There were intricate designs that were engraved on the door-designs that did not resemble the usual Asian designs. The effort put into making the door was not what most intrigued her; it was the fact that there seemed to have been another layer of wall that was burned away. Along the edges of the door-frame was what Kimiko could make out as the remains of some protective barrier. It didn't ease the uneasiness she felt when she looked at the ground, only to see that this portion of the temple seemed to have erupted from beneath. Swallowing her fear, she approached the door._

"_Here goes nothing." Kimiko whispered. _

_Kimiko saw her dream hands reach out for the handle, and then she grasped them-or at least tried to. Her hands went right through. **Maybe I'll be lucky. **Given that in mind, she took a step back and leaped forward-through though door. The chanting got louder, and she saw a glimpse of what she could assume was an altar of sorts. The smoke was thinker in this room in particular, and the air was caked with incense. Squinting, she could see the form of a towering statue in the far end of the altar. A hooded figure started to turn to face her (or perhaps just her general direction), but before she could see the figure's face, she was pulled back into reality. _

_:.End Dream Sequence.:_

"Ahhhh!"

No, she wasn't screaming because of a rather disturbing dream-it had more to do with the car coming to a sudden halt. Angry, Kimiko tried to lunge at the driver, but was restrained by her seatbelt. Shifting her eyes left and right, she shot a nasty glare at her two bodyguards.

"What the hell was that?" she snapped.

The other bodyguard, Thomas, merely raised an eyebrow, "Traffic jam, Miss Tohomiko. The chauffeur is doing his best to get you home."

Kimiko harrumphed and sunk back into the soft, leather seats. She blinked once, then twice. Then…

"Oh. My. God!" Kimiko shrieked, "Where the _hell_ is my cell phone?"

Rummaging through her purse, she frantically dug for her cell-phone, cursing herself for bringing so much crap in her bag to begin with. _Score!_ She was elated to finally find the thing, thus flipping it open, she found that the sorry thing was out of batteries. Kimiko felt her eyebrow twitch. Five seconds later, Kimiko's cell phone collided with the limo partition, issuing a cry of fright from the driver. Kimiko would have laughed, but was too distracted to care.

She had her Blackberry with her, but it was useless at this point. There was no reception, most likely because of the bad weather conditions-meaning she couldn't call via-Blackberry. She couldn't email the temple either, for obvious reasons. Maybe her brutal treatment of her cell phone was in vain. She sighed and looked gloomily outside the tinted windows. She'll have to call the Xiaolin temple as soon as she got back home.

(OOO)

Raimundo was scrubbing his wet hair with a towel when a car pulled up in the driveway. He was amazed that he didn't hear the front gate open. The stupid thing needed to be oiled (or whatever the hell they did to gates nowadays). Raimundo always found that a gate offered little protection, while drawing too much attention. The sound the gate made whilst opening and closing could've been compared to a goddamn banshee. From the window of his old room, he could see Martin and Miguel getting out of the car. Setting down the towel, Raimundo glanced at the mirror to confirm that his appearance was presentable. Contended with wearing navy blue t-shirt over a darker blue long-sleeved shirt, and cargo shorts, he left his room to greet the "family".

Halfway down the staircase, Raimundo could make out Martin lugging two large luggage bags into the main hall. Said figure was also struggling with the bags, as well as breathing..

"Need help?" It was rhetorical, and Raimundo let some cockiness slip into his statement.

Martin looked up and glared at his stepson, "What do _you_ think, boy. Get your ass down here, and help move this shit to Miguel's room." Smoking Cuban cigars happened to be one of Martin's favorite pastimes. S

Raimundo was about to tell Martin, in a very cheerful tone, to shove it, but settled on a muttered "whatever". After all, it was a little too early in the morning. He wasn't all too keen on giving Martin reasons to mention his father's studio, either. He descended down the remainder of the steps, and grabbed the luggage that was now on the floor. Looking up, Raimundo saw that Martin was well on his out the front to god-knows-where, nearly knocking over Miguel on his way out. A hint of annoyance spread across Raimundo's face.

Miguel stumbled backwards a bit when his father practically ran into him, but quickly regained his balance, tottering inside. The aftermath of long hospital visits usually left him rather weak. He supposed there wasn't much he could to about it. The extensive amount of time he spent in hospitals also affected his social skills, much to his dismay. Miguel managed established that he could no longer socialize properly in public without quietly mumbling and backing away. He developed none of the social skills he was supposed to have in middle school. After recomposing himself, Miguel realized his brother was more than halfway up the stairs. Miguel gave a hefty sigh and trekked up the stairs.

(OOO)

Raimundo dropped Miguel's luggage at the foot of his brother's bed. Miguel's room looked like any other normal kid's room, but if anyone cared to look closely, they'd notice the room was not quite right. The first thing they might notice would be the abnormal cleanliness. The sheets were neatly folded, and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere, not even on the clock the hung six feet above the ground. Everything was touched, yet untouched. Another thing someone might notice would be how all the trophies were for junior athletics teams. Raimundo didn't get to search the room for anymore reasons as to why it had such a strange vibe. He could hear Miguel's approaching footsteps quite clearly now.

Raimundo watched Miguel half throw the bag he was holding to the foot of his bed with the rest of his stuff. By this point, Raimundo had already comfortably sat on the plush carpeting.

"The epilepsies are gone now-well, they've stopped, at least-and from what the doctors can tell, my leukemia is too." Miguel said, answering the question Raimundo was about to ask. "They've tried bone marrow transplants before. It's just never worked. Martin didn't think you needed to know. I-I don't think it matters to him if you knew or not. The doctors didn't think it would work any better this time either, but…it did."

Miguel started talking again, stumbling a bit over his words. "I was surprised too. I've spent the last three years just sort of expecting to die soon, you know. I met this girl who had leukemia too, once. She was always so optimistic, even though she was sick longer than I was. I'm not too sure how she's doing now…I'd really like to know though… I think her name was Jasper…What I mean is; I know that there's got to be something else in your bone marrow. Something…I don't know."

Raimundo was beyond relieved. His conscience was a little less guilty, and Miguel was finally going to be able to live without the impending doom hovering over him.

"I guess we have a lot to catch up on."

Smiling, Miguel asked, "Can we _please _go to those resort places in Rio? It's been ages since I've been there. We could just stick to the nice parts of Rio…"

Raimundo groaned. The part of Rio Miguel wanted to go to was full of tourists. "Miguel, we live in the Barra da Tijuca disctrict. This is the nicest of the nice parts of Rio, and in case you've forgotten, it's also in the Western zone of Rio. All the nice areas are in the _South_ zone."

"It's not _that_ long of a ride down there. Your dad bought a place in Leblon, too. We could catch a train or bus to get there. Then we could go to Ipanema." Miguel suggested.

At the mention of Leblon, Raimundo could feel a slight pang of discomfort in his gut. There were a few…unpleasant memories there. He knew he should probably stop living in the past, but some things were just harder to get over. Maybe in time he would be able to go back to the mansion in upper Leblon, which technically belonged to him now too. He wasn't ready to revisit that part of his past yet, but he didn't want to disappoint Miguel. The kid was really looking forward to getting some fresh air.

Miguel must've noticed his hesitation because his brother started to mumble somewhat incoherently about how Barra was tourist-y enough. Raimundo wanted to laugh at his brother's meekness, but was grateful to Miguel for not pushing it.

"We could go surfing at the beaches," Raimundo started, then remembering Miguel's current condition, "…or we could just chill at the beach."

Miguel perked up again, "We should probably buy boards anyways. Martin threw yours out, and mine's really old."

Halfway out the main door, Raimundo had to stifle a yawn. The jet-lag (or was it dragon-lag?) was kicking in, and he realized he hadn't gotten any sleep.

"Hey, Miguel, let's get coffee first. I just realized haven't gotten any sleep."

(OOO)

Kimiko checked into the Park Hyatt Tokyo, or rather, her bodyguards checked her in. She was fairly ticked off that she didn't get to go home, but neither her mother nor her father was home, which meant Jim and Thomas had to send her to a hotel. Apparently, it was some bizarre safety measure-one she never really quite understood. As much as she wanted to comfortably plop down on the inviting bed sheets, she knew she had to make a phone call. God forbid that anything happened or would happen at the temple, but it was better to be cautious about it. Digging out her Blackberry again, Kimiko looked for the Xiaolin temple's phone number (the expression on her face when Master Fong told her that the temple, did indeed, have a phone was priceless.) Kimiko was ecstatic when she saw that receptions were now available again, but looking at the time, it was already 8 pm. She dialed the number, anyway. Wherever the Xiaolin Temple was, she knew that it was at least an hour ahead of Tokyo.

After a few rings, Master Fong's voice answered with a, "Hello?"

Kimiko wasted no time to tell Master Fong every detail of her dream. Of course, he had to ask her to slow down and breath every so often, just so that he could understand what she was saying.

"Kimiko, I can assure you that there are no secret altars here at the Xiaolin Temple, and I can also assure you that I do not sense or see any suspicious persons lurking about near the temple. Clay and Omi are eating dinner at the moment, but I will tell the elder monks; I should probably call them colleagues, to be on the lookout. I will alert Dojo as well, and should anything happen, Dojo will pick you and Raimundo up."

There was a pause.

"Is that alright for you, Kimiko?"

"Y-Yeah, that'd be fine. I'm staying on the 10th floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo. There are two bodyguards stationed outside my door and two outside the window. If Dojo's going to pick me up tonight, tell him to be careful. I don't want him to get shot."

Master Fong laughed. "I'll be sure to warn him. Goodnight Kimiko."

"Night Master Fong."

After hanging up, Kimiko happily plopped down onto the bed, and fell asleep. She could care less if she wrinkled her clothes. It was a long day and she needed the sleep. Unbeknownst to her, she would soon find that sleep was going to be scarce.

(OOO)

Kimiko was having a nice, dreamless sleep when she started to feel reptilian hands prodding at her head. In irritation, she jolted awake, and proceeded to throttle the thing with her bare hands. That is, until her eyes started to focus, and she realized the thing that was Dojo. _What the hell is Dojo doing here?_

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my God!" Kimiko quietly shrieked. "Dojo! Did the Xiaolin temple burn down? Holy crap is everyone okay?"

Kimiko was frantic, but Dojo, who was being the reasonable one for once, grabbed her shaking head.

"Kimiko. Calm down." Dojo started, "I need you to pack your things, and get ready to leave. We're going to go to Rio to pick up Raimundo, and I will explain everything that happened on our way to Rio."

Kimiko took a deep breath. Dojo was right, she couldn't start panicking. She didn't even know the full situation. Quickly, Kimiko called Mrs. Tachikawa to tell her that an emergency had come up, and to tell Keiko she'll visit as soon as she can. She didn't wait for Keiko's mother to respond, she had to get all her things together. She forwarded a text message to her bodyguards, relieving them of their duties. Looking over her right shoulder she could see Dojo nervously pacing about on the bed. Grabbing a change of clothes, Kimiko hurried to the bathroom to change and freshen up.

To her complete and utter astonishment, it only too her fifteen minutes to get ready, as opposed to her usual 45 minute routine.

Dojo grinned, "Great, you're done. Hop on board."

Climbing onto a now full length Dojo, they soared out the window. Kimiko was glad they were in Tokyo. There were crazier things in the sky than a ginornous flying dragon.

"I brought the Eagle Scope with me. You need to use it to look for Raimundo. Master Fong tried contacting Raimundo, but we couldn't get a hold of him. We're going to need to search all of Rio for him."

Kimiko groaned and grabbed the Eagle Scope.

"So, Dojo, what happened? Are Clay and Omi safe?"

"Clay and Omi are fine. Master Fong is fine, and the temple is as solid as it was since you left it." Dojo began "Your dream _was _a premonition, only it wasn't the Xiaolin Temple that was attacked. It was Ming Xu Temple. _That's_ why you thought one of the older monks looked familiar. I don't have all the details, but Master Fong told me to pick up you and Raimundo."

Kimiko chose not to talk, and instead focused on finding Raimundo. After circling Rio for about twenty minutes, at an extremely high altitude, she finally spotted Raimundo sitting in a café with someone she didn't know.

"I found him Dojo." Kimiko said with a smirk of accomplishment.

(OOO)

"…and that's basically what I've been doing since I left home." Raimundo finished.

He had just basically summed up his life from being a street acrobat and homeless for a few months, to the traveling circus, and finishing with the Xiaolin Temple. Of course, he spared his brother some of the details and unpleasantries, which included his ill-fated decision that launch the world into darkness.

Miguel's face held a look absolute bewilderment. "So you mean to tell me that you spent months as a homeless kid?"

"Yep. It was the shock of a life-time, but it wasn't all bad. I go to stay at this crazy Italian-Brazilian woman who made me read her books on Greek Philosophers as rent."

Miguel almost spat his latté out. Raimundo gave him a look. "Sorry. It's just; you went from wealthy prep school boy, to homeless kid living with a crazy old woman."

Raimundo shrugged. "Like I said, it wasn't all bad. I learned a lot of things from my experiences-not that I'm telling _you _to be a homeless for four months, but that's where I got all my street smarts from."

"But you had private tutors when you were with the traveling circus?"

Nodding, Raimundo explained, "They were pretty damn strict too. They wouldn't let me perform unless I understood _everything_. I basically finished my high school education, with honors, when I was fifteen-right before I got picked up by Master Fong."

"Dude-"

Miguel didn't get to finish when a large dragon crashed into the rather small café.

"Rai!" he could hear Kimiko shouting, "Get your **ass** over here this instant!"

As soon as the rubble cleared, both Dojo and Kimiko can be clearly made out.

"Hop on board. Kimiko and I have a few things we need to tell you before we get back to the temple."

"What about my brother?" Raimundo sputtered. There was dust and sand in his mouth. "I can't drag him to _China_."

Dojo rolled his eyes. "Fine, tell me where you live, and we'll drop the little dude off."

"I'm not _that_ little…" mumbled Miguel.

The two brothers apologized profusely to the owner, and Kimiko offered to pay off the damages before they piled onto Dojo's back. On Raimundo's instruction, Dojo took off in the direction of the manor, which wasn't really that far from where they were.

(OOO)

If there was a God, Raimundo thanked Him for not letting Dojo crash into his house. The dragon had landed smoothly in front of the front gate, and no damage was done. In fact, the dragon looked rather shocked at the appearance of Raimundo's home.

"You live in a mansion and you never told me?" Dojo said, gaping while Raimundo punched in the code number. "We could've thrown massive shin-digs."

"Dojo, it's only half the size of my place." Kimiko said perkily, unsure as to what prompted her to say it. It was the show off in her, she noted with disdain. Raimundo only raised an eyebrow.

"Miguel, you'll be fine on your own, right?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Alright, I'll just grab my stuff and I'll be right out. I'll come back and visit Rio when I can."

It didn't take him long to get in and out of his house. He only had to grab his duffel bag. It wasn't until he was on Dojo's back, and sitting in front of Kimiko to avoid eating her hair again, that he came to the conclusion that he had no idea why he had to leave Rio.

"Uh, guys?" he started, "Would either of you like to explain why we're in such a rush?"

(OOO)

**A/N: Holy crap I think that's the longest chapter I've typed for this story. It was strange, I was an hour into a four hour car ride, when suddenly, I was stuck by inspiration-which died after fifteen minutes. It came back in an hour though (and periodically died, before popping up again), and I managed to finish it just as the car was about to pull into the driveway. I'm in my room now, typing up this last portion before posting it. **

**Thank you everyone who reviewed**. **I hope this chapter was sufficient. I encourage anyone to review, because I'm still doubtful as to whether or not finishing this is worth my time. **

**I'm only going to answer questions now:**

**:P**: Well ,I guess it is. I'm not the one for completely pointless romance, so if I continue writing this, there won't be "romance" until I establish a proper foundation for one.

**Mags**: I haven't seen you in a while, and yes, I'm slacking off on my summer homework, but typing this is teaching me how to manage my time. Auditions were crap, I only had a few hours to find, put together, and memorize a monologue.

**Rave Slave**: As you can see, I've explained that in this chapter and in the author's note up above.

Don't forget to review. I don't care what anyone has got to say, so long as they just say it.

-**Arch Butterfly **


	9. Chapter 8

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

A/N: Now I'm surprised. I'm typing up the next chapter.

**I think I still have the timing for everything kind of screwed up. I update so infrequently, I tend to forget what I wrote. To clear some more things up about Raimundo's family timeline, Raimundo was two when his father got shot and died. His mother remarried almost immediately afterward, and had Miguel. Because the way I may have set it up before, Raimundo's mom would've been cheating on her husband.**

'Thoughts'

_Thoughts (haven't figured out which one to stick to) or Flashbacks _

(OOO)

Chapter 8: Behind the Looking Glass

(OOO)

Surprises-life was full of it. Kimiko and Dojo had explained the burning temple fiasco as best as they could—considering they didn't have much knowledge on the situation themselves. There were a million questions and answers swimming in Raimundo's head at once, which made it difficult to understand what he was trying to figure out. He wanted to know if Kimiko was able to sort things out in Tokyo. He wanted to know why Kimiko was able to see what was going to happen to the Ming Xu Temple. He wanted to know what caused the Temple to burn down, and why it happened. He wanted to know why anything happened. Hell, he wanted to know why Life was so obsessed with dramatics. All this (and quite a bit more) drew Raimundo to one conclusion; he had a massive headache (again). On the other hand, the headache may have had something to do with the fact that the smoke in the air was getting thicker and denser—to the point of near asphyxiation. Why Dojo chose to fly into the forest, and not above it was beyond Raimundo's comprehension.

"Okay, we're almost there. At least, I think we are…I can't seem to see much." Dojo said, spotting bits of fire in the distance. "Try not to inhale too much of the smoke. Hold your breath or something..."

Dojo's commented merely initiated two simultaneous eye rolls.

(OOO)

The journey itself was uneventful, if not a little tense. The few conversations the group had weren't exactly notable either, but soon enough, the mass of flames were in view, and the damage it was doing was more than a little obvious. The Ming Xu Temple was almost completely set aflame. The inferno made it difficult to tell where the fire originated, and what part of the temple was more or lass damaged than the next. Pieces of burning roof, and walls would randomly drop, making anywhere within half a mile radius a hazard zone. The only positive aspect of the situation was that the fire was relatively isolated, burning only within close proximity of the temple, and failed to spread anywhere beyond the temple grounds, leaving most of the wilderness intact.

Dojo felt hot grass brush against his sensitive underside as he arrived at the designated location. Shrinking down to what can be described as a more "portable" Dojo, the dragon observed the surroundings, and what he saw could only be interpreted as madness. The thickness of the air easily contributed a feeling of foreboding, and the feeling that something else was not quite right. There was some order in the madness, as Clay was seen assisting some of the teachers with evacuating the temple. Omi, in typical Omi-like fashion, appeared to have taken immediate control as leader of the large faction that was trying to douse the flames. Dojo, Kimiko, and Raimundo only had one purpose at hand, and that was finding Master Fong. Dojo could tell the two Xiaolin warriors were eager to help, but dammit, he had to do what he was told. Now was not the time to fall apart from disorganization. It was a shame really, all Dojo wanted to do was cower in one of Raimundo's pant pockets. One could only imagine Dojo's delight when he saw a familiar and misshapen bald head.

Master Ghandolius William Fong (after various pronunciations of his first name began to surface, he very much preferred to be called "William", or "Fong" by his peers) looked solemnly at the Ming Xu Temple. The temple itself was defiantly refusing to be burned down completely, but was definitely damaged beyond repair. The Ming Xu Temple would have to relocate, and be rebuilt from scratch. The old Master wondered briefly if the Xiaolin temple would be forced to house some of the Ming Xu Temple's previous inhabitants. Although he would never say it out loud, he had a considerable amount of dislike for Hojo. Hojo was at least twenty years younger than Master Fong, and was one of Master Fong's students some fifteen years ago. Master Fong was teaching as a Magickal Theory professor at a well known magick establishment in the North. He once asked his class to write an essay on their opinion on where the line should be drawn on morally "correct" and "incorrect" utilization and extraction of Magick. Hojo's essay touched some aspects of magick that were, to put lightly, controversial. Master Fong shook his head. He would've further indulged himself these thoughts if he had not caught glimpse of Dojo calling out to him.

"I trust you all had a safe trip?" Master Fong said as he turned to face the three.

Three heads nodded in response.

"Good, that means we can get to the task at hand," turning to Dojo, Master Fong informed the dragon. "I know you would want nothing more than to hide under a rock, but I want you to help Clay evacuate the temple. We have reason to believe that some may still be trapped inside."

"B-but… I have this rash see, and I'm really getting old…" Dojo said, trying to protest.

"_Dojo_..."

The dragon grew a good twelve feet while grumbling something under his breath, which sounded suspiciously like, "No respect for elders…should've up for retirement when I had the chance…"

Master Fong sighed and beckoned Kimiko and Raimundo to follow him. They kept walking until they reached a more secluded part of the temple grounds.

Once again, Master Fong turned around and faced his pupils. "Kimiko, I need you to try and remember where you found the altar. I've been trying to locate it for the past forty minutes or so, without much success. It is vital that we find it. I believe whoever attacked this temple is after what's inside."

Kimiko scrunched her eyebrows together, "Well, there was a path, of charred grass…"

"I know that Kimiko, but I haven't been able to find any paths of the sort. I need you to tell me what part of the temple it may have been." Master Fong sighed.

At this, Kimiko got irritated, and whined, "But Master Fong! You can't expect me to remember every detail of a _dream_."

It was Raimundo's turn to sigh, "Well, this really isn't getting us anywhere. Why don't you just let Kimiko go off and try to find this altar on her own? She probably remembers more than she thinks she does, anyway. It'd be easier to just let her use her intuition."

"Stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" Kimiko huffed.

Master Fong shook his head, "I don't want Kimiko to go alone. The cloaked figures she dreamt of may be dangerous."

"Well, Raimundo can go with me," Kimiko suggested, a hint of irritation still lingering in her voice. "But you should know that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Another sigh, "Kimiko, I am well aware that you are more than capable."

"Then I can go alone?" Kimiko questioned hopefully.

"No, it's still too dangerous." Master Fong said, before adding, "Raimundo, Kimiko, I want _both_ of you to go and find the altar. Once you find it, send out a signal, and try to avoid a fight if possible."

"And if no one's there?" Raimundo asked.

Master Fong thought about this for a moment. He wasn't sure if he wanted the two to wait before investigating.

"If you can get inside, try to look for significant clues or anything that may be of importance." Master Fong concluded, "I would assist the two of you, but I'm afraid I should be of more help with the immediate danger. I don't suppose any of the elder monks are too fond of the way Omi is talking to them either…"

Raimundo laughed, "No worries Master Fong, Kimiko and I will take care of this altar business."

Master Fong nodded and ran back to the where Dojo first saw him.

"So, where to now, Kimiko?" Raimundo quipped while raising an eyebrow.

Kimiko's eyes caught a glimpse of familiar territory of in the distance, and smirked, "I think I may know where."

That said, Kimiko bolted with Raimundo trailing behind her.

(OOO)

"No! That is not the correct way to put out a fire!"

Clay looked worriedly at Omi. If the little guy kept bossing everyone around the way he was, he was sure that the older monks wouldn't hesitate to throw Omi into the fire and call it an accident. Hopefully, Master Fong would be back soon.

"Orb of Tornami! Water!"

Clay winced again. Omi's barrage of water made violent contact with the temple while putting out some of the flames. Naturally, Clay felt very unsafe being inside a burning temple, and Omi's contribution to the falling wooden pillars didn't help matters too much. In the past half hour Clay had learned that the life of a human being was a very important thing. He also learned that despite how very important life was, people inside a burning temple did not cooperate very well. Honestly, Clay only had the best intentions at heart, it did not help that people refused to budge when he tried to save their lives. Clay sighed. It seemed a lot of people were doing that lately. On a less philosophical level of learning, Clay learned that Omi was incredibly loud for such a small person. Omi's voice was somehow able to surpass the all the noises so often associated with chaos (screaming, shrieking, things falling, etc.)

"Hey Clay, do you think there're any more people left?" Dojo asked from around Clay's shirt collar. "It's getting' real stuffy in here, and I'm not too keen of having this place fall on my head…"

"Sorry, Dojo, but we're goin' to have to stay here a bit longer. You never know who or what you might miss."

Dojo groaned and buried himself deeper into Clay's shirt, not that the BO was any improvement from the smoke. The pair had been flying people out of the temple for God knows how long. Dojo couldn't wait to see how many burns he received. He was sure his pretty green scales were all charred and red and gross now. A loud piercing shriek caught both the cowboy's and dragon's attention.

"Well, Dojo, I guess we've got some savin' to do."

The pair followed the persistent screaming while carefully navigating the crumpling temple to avoid getting hit by something, or falling into some hole in the floor. Just as they found the kid, who turned out to be the same thirteen year old that ran into Master Hojo, one of the support beams came crashing down right in front of them.

"Aw, dang it. Why'd Omi had to take the Serpent's tail, he didn't even need it." Clay commented while digging in his pockets to try and find the Mantis Flip Coin.

Clay was still fumbling with his pockets when Dojo grabbed his head, forcing him to look up. To his (and quite possibly Dojo's) horror, he realized the kid hadn't been screaming because of all the fire, but because there was some strange hooded figure that had, at that moment, clamped its hands over the boy's mouth.

"Mantis Flip Coin!" Clay shouted, finally locating the blasted thing.

Clay's body was propelled in the air before landing of the hardwood floor. Dojo was surprised Clay's weight didn't puncture a hole in the already fragile flooring.

"Now hold it right there!" Clay shouted at the figure, "Who do you think you are? You can't go round' kidnappin' kids. It ain't right."

Dojo poked his head out of Clay's collar, and added, "Yeah, why don't you put down the kid, and nobody gets hurt."

The figure did nothing to implicate that it even heard what Dojo and Clay said, but instead proceeded to gag and tie the boy up.

"All right, that's it!" Clay had had enough of this man-woman-thing, and began to charge right at the figure.

Dojo's eyes widened in panic, "No, Clay! The ground's not stable!"

It was too late, Clay's foot sunk into the floor as the wood snapped. Clay cried out in agony, and tried to save his foot with Dojo's assistance. The cloaked figure still gave no indication as to whether or not it had seen or heard the pair. It was busy drawing a symbol of some sort on the part of the wall that hadn't been consumed by flames. Immediately, Dojo ceased his assistance to Clay, and carefully memorized each detail. Dojo couldn't do much to save the boy, as more of the room began to collapse, but if he could just remember what the symbol was, he could look it up later. Dojo's eyes followed the figures hands as the symbol was drawn out nearly flawlessly. Upon completion the symbol began to glow a bright blue, engulfing both the figure and the boy.

"Dammit, Dojo! Will ya quit starin' at the wall and help me get my foot out!"

Sighing, Dojo extended a good twelve feet, and yanked Clay out before throwing the cowboy onto his back. Disregarding the flames that were violently licking at his body, Dojo shot upwards, breaking through the ceiling and growing into his whole forty-foot self.

(OOO)

Kimiko caught a glimpse of the same odd rock formation she thought she saw in her dream. She wasn't really sure where to go, but her gut instinct told her to trust it. Raimundo was lagging behind when she first started running, but caught in no time. She never really noticed how big the Ming Xu Temple was until she had to run around like a deluded maniac trying to find something that might not even be there. Thunder cracked through the air, and Kimiko shuddered. It wasn't raining, but the random spurts of sound still made her jumpy. Looking to her left, she could see that the thunder wasn't bothering Raimundo in the least sense. In fact, he seemed to revel in it. Perhaps he just enjoyed the hunt—the search for the unknown. All Kimiko knew was that there was a passion that seemed engulfed his eyes when he was particularly enthusiastic about a mission, or was particularly engrossed by a good book. Kimiko started to frown and turned away when she caught herself staring.

"Hey, Kimiko?" Raimundo inquired, while coming to a halt. "This wouldn't happen to be the charred grass you were looking for, hmm?"

Sure enough, Raimundo was gesturing at what she had seen in her dream—the thickness of the air, the distinct odor of burning incense, the oddly shaped rock formation, and the strange air of quietness. No, it was more than just quiet; there was almost a sacred air to the surroundings. Then again, it was a tad too _unholy_ to be sacred.

Raimundo caught up with Kimiko, and stood to the right of her. Smack dab in front of them was the path they were looking for. It was a mystery for Master Fong could've missed something as conspicuous as what lay before them.

"So I guess we follow it then." Raimundo commented as the two quietly trekked up the path that led further past the lake, and partially into the forest.

Almost expectedly, the air started to get continually foggier (though it did nothing to subdue the heat), making it difficult to see. Kimiko nearly jumped a mile when she felt a clammy hand grasp her wrist, only to realize it was just Raimundo.

"I don't want us to get separated." He explained logically.

In spite of the fog (which Kimiko did not remember to be a part of her dream), the charred grass remained nearly completely visible. Bring cautious, neither of them chose to talk, lest something unexpected jumped out at the two. As they reached the far end of the lake, the fog started to clear up, but the chanting Kimiko heard before wasn't present. In fact, it was eerily quiet. Raimundo released his grip on Kimiko's wrist, and started to jog away from the path, and towards some of the trees with shockingly think trunks. Kimiko opened her mouth to say something, but hushed up when Raimundo held a slender finger against his lips, signaling her to be quiet. He gesticulated for her to join him behind the tree. Raimundo had run pretty far up, so Kimiko had to squint to see him. Frowning, she saw that he was beginning to wave his arms around more frantically; panic doodled onto his normally passive face. She broke out into a run, and was panting by the time she got near the tree. Kimiko didn't think she ran so fast in her entire life.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Rai, you have better have a good reason—"

She never got to finish what she was saying because Raimundo grabbed her arm, and pulled her behind the tree. His hand was firmly clasped over her mouth, and his other arm was now around her waist, preventing her from any further movement. Of course, Kimiko hadn't failed to notice how close the two of them were. Her body was pressed firmly against his. She could feel his muscles, which were rather tense at the moment, against her back, and vaguely wondered if he could feel her vertebrae. Kimiko's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. If they were any closer, they would've been conjoined twins. In all honesty she felt mortified, and a blush was very quickly creeping up to her cheeks.

'I bet he's enjoying this.' Kimiko thought drably.

She was a bit aggravated as well. Really now, the nerve he had... She turned her head so that she could snap at him (after biting his fingers off of course), but as soon as she caught a look of urgency in his bright green eyes—which were looking to the left of the tree trunk. Kimiko turned her head to see what had caught his attention. Her eyes shot open. It was the altar—long double doors, burnt protective layer, creepy just-erupted-from-the-ground ground, the whole shebang. Only this time, instead of two _shut _doors the doors were thrown wide open and the hoard of suspicious looking cloaked figures were steadily moving out of the altar. Incense was wafting through the open doors, and the leader of the pact seemed to be holding some object of importance in its hand. The object glimmered gold and black, regardless of the dullness of the night that was due to the New Moon.

Kimiko frowned against Raimundo's hand. The cloaked figures sure were taking their sweet time. Was it just her, or were the things moving even more slowly than they were before? She would have really liked to just jump out and kick some freaking-cloaked ass, but they were grossly outnumbered. It was strange that Raimundo became the voice of reason. He was usually second only to her when it came to impulsive actions.

'The whole Wuya thing really changed him…I'm not too sure if that's a good or a bad thing…' she thought while her eyes stayed glued to the altar.

Finally, it seemed the last of the figures had left the altar, and to her disappointment, shut the two doors. What surprised her even more was that in a flash of blue light, the group was gone. They stayed silent and unmoving for a moment, until they were sure that the cloaked figures were all gone. Kimiko felt Raimundo's muscles relax, and he released his grip on her. A large part of her felt relieved from the release, but the smaller part of her sort of missed the feeling. She brushed the insignificant thought aside and ran towards the altar. It was exactly how she saw it in her dreams. She reached forward and grabbed the handles. Then she felt pain. It was the horridly excruciating pain of the soft flesh of her palm making contact with the hot metal doors. For the third time that day, Raimundo grabbed her wrists (a lot less forcefully this time). He inspected the burns before releasing her wrists.

Raimundo rolled his eyes while chuckling at her stupidity, "Honestly, Kim. I would've thought you were smart enough not to do that."

Kimiko frowned and stomped her foot. Ah, yes, foot stomping. It was her solution to everything. She watched with detached interest as Raimundo dug in his messenger bag.

'Did he always have that with him?' she thought, 'And is that the Sword of the Storm?'

The Sword of the Storm was secured to the front of the bag, and Raimundo pulled out some first aid supplies. He grabbed her hand again and started to wrap them with gauze. After he was done with both hands, he started to dig in the bag again. Kimiko was sure her cheeks were very pink now, and was annoyed that she was behaving so recklessly. Looking at Raimundo, she saw him pull out the Third Arm Sash before handing it to her.

"Well, why didn't you give it to me _earlier_!" Kimiko snapped, eliciting only a laugh from Raimundo.

"Third Arm Sash!"

Immediately, the sash arm grabbed a hold of one of the door handles before yanking it open. It did the same thing with the second door. Kimiko withdrew the arm, and was about to run inside when it occurred to her she needed to send out the signal for Master Fong. Standing where she would have a clear shot at the sky, she dispersed her fire element into the air in the shape of a large arrow. It sort reminded her of the large neon signs back home, and felt a bit home-sick.

"C'mon Kimiko, we've got some exploring to do." Raimundo said lightly.

She turned round and ran after him into the altar. It was strange, Raimundo seemed more cheerful than he was when the Xiaolin warriors first can back from their vacation, but something was still a little off.

(OOO)

The inside of the altar could most assuredly be described as demonic. Fancy and gothic looking incense holders adorned the two side walls, though the incense recently placed in it had all burned away. The floor was lined with dark red carpeting, and stale gold curtains were hanging illogically from the ceiling. The tall wooden cabinets that stood at each of the corners were also noteworthy, but what was most shocking was the large statue that stood in the end of the room. A magnificent form of the beast was made of hardened clay, and painted with various shades of red, as well as flecks of black, gold, green, and blue. The statue seemed to resemble a ghastly cross between a horse, bird, bat, human, and something from the underworld. It had the head (enforced with sharp teeth and a set of horns) and arms of a horse, a chest that looked very much like the stomach of a bird, and legs that seemed human. To add to its monstrosity, it had two mutilated bat wings protruding from its back.

To sum it up, the thing was painful to look at. At least that's what both Kimiko and Raimundo thought as they surveyed the room, looking for hints or clues.

"Hey, Rai, you wouldn't happen to know a way to open these stupid cabinets, do you?" Kimiko asked while trying very hard the pry one of the drawers open without yanking the knob off.

"Nope."

Kimiko groaned, "You're absolutely useless."

This only issued another laugh from Raimundo, who she noted, was digging through the only cabinet they actually managed to get open. The two of them had only been in the altar for about ten minutes, but the place was already starting to feel uninviting. Neither of them wanted to inspect the statue just yet, so they decided they would check that later. Looking over at Raimundo again, Kimiko saw him pull out a couple of scrolls and open them. Deciding that trying to read them would be pointless, he simply set them aside and continued digging. Kimiko sighed, she wasn't having much luck. Whoever these guys were, they were very clean when it came to going about their business. Raimundo coughed a few times, obviously bothered by the lingering incense.

Looking over at the statue, Kimiko sighed again, and mumbled, "Well, someone's got to do it…"

Approaching the ghastly thing, she started to run her hands across it, hoping to find some hidden compartment. No such luck. The thing's mouth was slightly open, but she wasn't about to stick her fingers in there. The statue was brilliantly crafted, down to the last ugly detail. The statue was set on several stands. Kimiko looked more closely at the positioning of the seemingly useless steps, and then reasoned with herself. _Nothing_ in and altar is completely useless. And right there, just to the right of the creature's distorted bat wings, was an even more distorted step. Kimiko excitedly pushed against it, and like magic, the steps started to rearrange itself, revealing a very large, and very shattered mirror. The shifting must've caught Raimundo's attention as he dropped the scrolls and immediately rushed to Kimiko's side. Behind the looking glass, there was an intricately designed golden panel that had swirling patterns that moved inward towards the center. There, the two could see that something had been very violently ripped out. Parts of the wall lay crumbled on the floor behind the mirror. Still, there was faded writing that was scratched onto the wall behind all the gold.

"It appears the situation at hand is far graver than I initially thought."

Raimundo and Kimiko turned around and saw Master Fong standing by the entrance, equipped with Dojo, Omi, and Clay.

(OOO)

A/N: Dear God, I've updated. To those of you who are still reading this, you should really be thanking **Veritas.Aequetas.Redemptio. Who I would like to personally thank for inspiring me to write this--even if I do have a ton of homework to do that I haven't finished. **

**Veritas.Aequetas.Redemptio.—**Thank you, it was very nice of you to say that, and it's true, I never like to have unfinished writing.

**Fiona-**Well, the plot just sort of creates itself. I'm usually not quite inspired when I'm writing this, so I just make up the plot as I go along.

**Diva of the opera- **Wow, thanks for all those reviews. Um, sorry I wasn't creative enough, and typos are sort of bond to happen. I'm not too comfortable about revealing where I live…

**Addicted to Perfection- **Um, thanks. I know about the districts in Rio because a friend of mine happens to have a house or two down there, and I visit her every so often.

**DeafLizgon- **I'm not sure where you would've gotten that idea, but no.

**dArkliTe-sPirit- **I sort of explained who the cloaked figures were in this chapter.

**Rave Slave- **Raimundo's dad just isn't a very nice guy, not that he's too happy that his wife died either.

**Priestess kurumi inu's sister- **Well…what Kimiko said wasn't meant to be offensive, and no one in the story took it that way either. Raimundo was property and a trust fund left over from his deceased parents, but Kimiko's wealthier by far,


	10. Chapter 9

Recollections of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

**A/N:** Hmm, I started typing some of this up during my winter break, but I just sort of gave up. Sad to say, I'm just not inspired to write this anymore, but alas, I promised I would finish it, so I will. It'll just take a while.

Sorry if anything in this chapter sounds redundant…I can't really remember what happened in some of the older chapters.

---

Chapter 9: What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas Pt. 1

---

_Behind the looking glass, there was an intricately designed golden panel that had swirling patterns that moved inward towards the center. There, the two could see that something had been very violently ripped out. Parts of the wall lay crumbled on the floor behind the mirror. Still, there was faded writing that was scratched onto the wall behind all the gold. _

"_It appears the situation at hand is far graver than I initially thought."_

_Raimundo and Kimiko turned around and saw Master Fong standing by the entrance--equipped with Dojo, Omi, and Clay._

---

Raimundo eyed Master Fong warily as the old man walked at an agonizingly slow pace towards the shattered mirror in silence. Dojo was trailing not far behind. He noted that Omi and Clay seemed to have their feet rooted to the ground in what he presumed to be a reaction to the disturbing appearance of the altar. With a decidedly bored sigh, Raimundo gave up and flopped down onto the hard floor. A couple of more seconds passed, which was interpreted as a couple of decades in Raimundo's mind. No one seemed to be saying anything, and Kimiko's pacing didn't help either.

Aggravated, Raimundo broke the silence, "Do you intend to ever tell us what's going on here?"

Kimiko stopped pacing, but Master Fong's attention remained enthralled by the writing. Several more seconds of silence ensured before Omi cut in.

"I am confident that Master Fong will tell us what it is that is happening as soon as he thinks that we are ready to hear it. Patience is a virtue," Omi started, "though I suppose the mediocrities, such as Raimundo here…."

Omi began to gesture wildly in Raimundo's direction, while giving a rather long-winded speech.

Raimundo simply tuned out Omi's verbal diarrhea and cast his gaze upwards—green eyes glazed over as he stared at the astonishingly glittery curtains in a way very similar to how a drug addict would stare at flashing lights. His mind wandered off to its own little world, but his thoughts failed to ignore Omi's topic of discussion. Sure, Raimundo was touchy when it came to the subject of why he wasn't chosen to be a Xiaolin Apprentice, and he was obviously guilty of his actions, but there was the lingering disappointment he still felt at himself for not being good enough. When it came to learning new things, it was always easy for him to simply learn and excel—so long as he set his mind to doing it. He was disappointed and discouraged when he seemed to have constant shortcomings in comparison to Omi, Kimiko, and Clay. He was never really sure who he was trying to impress-himself, or his dead parents. It was likely the latter, which made him feel rather pathetic. It was pitiful, and it bothered him.

Raimundo snapped out of his trance when a very large and very bald head began invaded his line of vision.

"Are you even listening to me!" Omi cried out, as he enthusiastically snapped his fingers at Raimundo's face.

"Not at all." Raimundo snarled in response, replacing his blank expression with an arrogant smirk.

The shorter Xiaolin Dragon fumed as his fingers alternated between fisting and relaxing in chorus with his intake and outtake of breath.

Sensing the increasing animosity, Master Fong seized the moment to say what everyone had been waiting to hear.

"If we could all take a seat and behave in an orderly manner." Master Fong paused for effect and looked pointedly at Omi and Raimundo. The dragons in training quickly formed a neat row.

Pleased, Master Fong continued, "I am sure that you are all eager to know what that wall says—some more than others, perhaps. I am afraid I have to disappoint everyone, and say that I have no knowledge, whatsoever, on how to read the text--"

Mouths started to gape, but the elder held his hand up in protest.

"_However_, an old acquaintance of mine might be more familiar with this particular dialect," he paused to take another glance at the wall "I believe he may know more about—"

"Uh, Master Fong…"

"Yes, Dojo?" Master Fong inquired somewhat exasperatingly. It had been a long day, and the additional annoyances really weren't necessary.

"Well, ah…" Dojo began, "I was wondering if you were talking about the same person that I'm thinking of right now…You know, the _kind_ of unstable guy who tried to, um, throw you into a volcano fifty years ago…?"

"Yes, it would be the same person, and before you object, Dojo, I remind you that we do not know anyone else who would be able to give us a quick enough translation." Master Fong replied before continuing, "Clay, I want you to help Kimiko and Omi remove the rest of the gold panels so that Raimundo can get a few detailed photos of the writing. Don't forget the take pictures of the statue and the rest of the altar as well, Raimundo."

With that, Master Fong dug into the left sleeve of his robe to retrieve a small digital cameral, which he promptly threw in Raimundo's direction—who reflexively caught it.

"And Dojo, I need to talk to you outside,"

Five heads nodded and proceeded to do what they were told.

---

"So old chap, care to explain to me why we need to see Igneus?" Dojo asked, while raising a quizzical eyebrow.

Receiving no word from the human, Dojo continued, "I mean, sure it might be quicker, but he's a very dangerous guy! From what I've been hearing he's become a sort of a criminal!"

Dojo waited for a reply, and again, receiving none, began to rant, "Not to mention how hard it is to find any of _his kind_….What makes you think it'll even be worth our time?"

"Because," Master Fong started, "I know that Igneus has been living in Las Vegas for the past four years or so and as dangerous as he may be, he may be able to provide some evidence for your theory. The real challenge may not be finding, but rather, persuading him to aide us."

Contented with this answer, the dragon merely nodded and cast attentive eyes at the old man.

"Fly back to the temple, and get about a few days' worth of clothing for Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and…On second thought, I'll come with you. There are some details of this operation that I should go over."

Dojo nodded obediently at took off with Master Fong on his back. For some odd reason unbeknownst to him, Dojo felt like there was something very important he needed to ask Mast Fong about. He struggled to remember what he couldn't recollect, but gave up after deciding that it must not have been so important if he couldn't remember. Still, Dojo couldn't shake the odd feeling that plagued the dark corners of his mind.

---

After finishing their "expedition" the group was slightly surprised to find that their belongings have been packed into small travel-sized bags that were latched onto Dojo's forty feet back.

"In case you haven't already noticed, Dojo here is going to take you all the Las Vegas. He will also explain why you are going, as well as what you will need to do once you get there." Master Wong stated, glad that his pupils had accepted his ambiguous explanation.

With the Xiaolin Dragons securely settled on his back, Dojo immediately took flight right as the sun was about to dawn. There was no time to waste.

---

The trip was quiet, and after experiencing so many trips around the world, watching the sky change from night to day and night again had lost its allure. They arrived at Las Vegas relatively quickly, and it wasn't long until they could see the bright lights of The Strip. Master Fong had made arrangements for them to stay at the Bellagio Hotel.

The windows to one of the rooms that Master Fong had to "coax" his friends in higher places to allow the foursome to stay in were opened to avoid the suspicion that would come with entering through the front doors. Through careful maneuvering, everyone got inside in a matter of minutes.

"So, ah, care to tell us folks what we're doin' here, partner?" Clay questioned.

"Well," Dojo started, but paused to wait for everyone to grab a seat. Kimiko sat on the couch, Omi settled for sitting dead center on the bed, while Clay chose to stand. Raimundo looked as if he were going to sit on the coach as well, but changed his mind and sat backwards on a chair instead.

Dojo rubbed his reptilian palms together and began to explain to them what Master Fong had drilled into his brain. Three of the four were change into formal attire, grab their fake IDs, and head down towards Le Cirque, a fancy dining restaurant. There, they were arranged to be seated across the room from several "associates" of the man the group needed to find. As eavesdropping would prove to be difficult, the last member of their party would be disguised as a new waiter in order to implement a mini transmitter, which will transfer audio back to miniature headset one of the three will be wearing. The "waiter" will also be given a small tracking device to somehow attach to one of the associates.

"You're still a little vague on the details, Dojo." Raimundo commented after a slight pause.

Dojo huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before going of onto a tangent that sounded suspiciously like,"Well, sorry I'm not as good as Master Fong is. Damned ungrateful youth… "

"Actually, Raimundo's got a point, you've told us the jist of things, but that don't help us any if we don't know what we're getting' ourselves into." Clay commented cutting Dojo's little rant short.

Feeling a bit bad at the expression on the dragon's face, he added, "How 'bout we ask you questions as we go along? That way we all know what we need to know, and we won't feel unprepared."

The dragon pursed his lips together before giving the cowboy a curt nod.

Omi, ever the leader, chose this opening to take charge. "Well, the, let us start with the most important question at the moment. Which one of us is going to be subjected to two hours of servitude as a 'waiter'?"

Immediately, fingers were pointed in various directions.

"Ahem," Omi coughed, "I personally think that I, as the most experienced warrior, should be given the sole duty of assigning these roles. I say we shall—"

"Naw! Hold it there, partner. We ain't gonna let you call all the shots here." Clay interrupted. "I think we should do this according to good ol' logic and common sense."

Kimiko and Raimundo nodded in agreement.

"Clay has a point, Omi." Kimiko said, attempting to console a disheartened Omi; the small monk continued to sulk.

"So logically," Raimundo began, ignoring Omi's behavior, "Clay wouldn't make the best waiter, since he isn't the most, uh, graceful guy out there. No offense, Clay"

"None taken. I know where my limits are." Clay said, nodding in Raimundo's direction.

"Right," Raimundo started again, "So that leaves, me, Kimiko, and Omi."

He shifted his gaze between Omi and Kimiko.

"Any suggestions?"

"Well, I don't want to ruin your fun," Dojo said, stopping further discussion, "But we're a bit short on time here. Le Cirque closes at ten o'clock pm, and it's almost eight. Since the new waiter is supposed to be male, that rules out Kimiko. We've all agreed that Clay might have some trouble with moving around, which leaves us Omi and Raimundo. Between Omi and Raimundo, Raimundo is the one that can speak French, making him the most logical choice for the new 'waiter' at Le Cirque."

Dojo grinned, satisfied with his quick thinking. _See, I'm just as clever as Master Fong is. _He just hoped that the four could pull this stunt off without attracting any unwanted attention. The wiring at Le Cirque was only the tip of the iceberg. The dragon could feel his heart thumping faster thinking about what they were all getting themselves into. There was something happening out there, and Dojo wasn't sure if any of them wanted to know what this "something" really is.

Dojo instructed Kimiko, Omi and Clay to go and change into their evening wear. Omi and Clay would arrive first, and Kimiko would follow about fifteen minutes later and dine separately.

Things were about to be set into motion

---

Kimiko admired her surroundings while waiting for the arrival of the targets. Le Cirque certainly lived up to its hype as one of Las Vegas's most charismatic cuisines. The place was every bit extravagant from its wooden, star-studded entry to the swooping silk-tented ceiling. The paintings of whimsical French acrobats adorned the dark red walls, whispered tales from another time in Kimiko's ear. Reaching into her purse, Kimiko pulled out the black Samsung SGH-T809 Dojo had given her. The cell phone had been rewired to include a few new interesting new features that would allow her communicate with Raimundo. Dojo figured it would be a slight bit suspicious if she was talking on a cell phone if she had Omi and Clay's company, so it was decided that she would sit at a separate table. Though, honestly, sitting alone just made her feel like an old hag—dateless and alone.

'At least you don't look like an old hag.' Kimiko's mind assured her.

Indeed, Kimiko had to admit that Master Fong knew how to shop. She donned a simple black shift that went up to just above her knees. Her outfit had included a sparkling "diamond" necklace and a shawl, and her hair was set in an elegant plait. To put simply, she looked very Audrey Hepburn-ish. The look was a bit uninspired, but it fit the overall "classic and elegant" energy the restaurant exerted. She frowned and looked back down at her menu. She still wasn't sure what she wanted, and was yet to receive a waiter. Granted, she'd only been there for about three minutes, but she was expecting stellar service. Her eyes immediately left her menu when her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of four figures being seated at the table two tables away from her own by the maitre-d'.

There were two males and two females. Both men were wearing a sleazy lounge-lizard like button up and black slacks and brunets, though the shorter man opted for a buzz cut as opposed to the taller man who wore his hair slicked back. Her eyes shifted towards the women in the group. Kimiko noted that if she were to ever describe anyone as a "skank", it would be the peroxide blonde. Kimiko could not comprehend how the woman could possibly think of wearing an unnaturally short turquoise number that barely covered her nether regions. The plunging neckline wasn't what Kimiko could call attractive either. The other woman was more conservative, opting for a smart pant-suit instead of a dress. The quartet sat down and began reading the menu the maitre-d' handed to them

She took that as her cue to call Raimundo.

---

Raimundo self-consciously tugged at his waiter outfit while waiting for further instruction from the manager. He couldn't help feeling a little bit nervous. He wasn't exactly sure how to operate his ridiculously complex ear and mouth piece. It was a standard headset given to waiters, but Dojo had added a few embellishments to ensure that he could listen in on the bugged table in addition to any orders he may receive from Kimiko, who would be keeping watch of their targets. To guarantee that Kimiko wouldn't interrupt a message for Raimundo the waiter, she was given an earpiece that would pick up everything Raimundo's would.

Raimundo sighed and glanced at his watch. He wasn't given any instruction from any of the chefs just yet, and was starting to get antsy. Le Cirque was completely packed tonight, and sooner or later, they're going to need another waiter out there. He just hoped he would get the right table. Actually, he wasn't sure what Dojo had in mind to make certain that he would be their targets' waiter or the night. Raimundo began to pick at his shirt sleeves again. He was relieved that the sleeves were long. His arms haven't completely healed, and he forgot to wrap it in gauze back in Rio. The last thing he needed was for someone to notice and ask him questions. His thought process was cut short by a sudden transmission from Kimiko.

"Rai?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Good. Targets have arrived and are sitting at table to the right of mine. Two females and two males."

Kimiko's transmission ended, and now he had to think quickly. What the hell was he supposed to do? Walk up to the manager and demand that he pick his own customers? Fortunately, Lady Luck was one his side. The manager was gesturing at him to go over to where he was.

"Vasquez, I need you to go over to table twenty-seven and take their order. Then I want you to go over to table twenty-five and do the same, _comprenez?_" the manager started before adding, "Make sure these people are happy—in other words, don't fuck up their orders."

---

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I will be your waiter tonight. Are you ready to make your order?" Raimundo asked while taking out a small notepad from his back pocket.

Four pairs of eyes darted over to him.

"Yes," the woman with a short bob replied, "We would like the _Carpaccio de Saumon Fumé Maison et sa Petite Huile EpicéePlateau de Fruits de Mer de Saison, Salade de Homard "Le Cirque" Vinaigrette aux Truffes and Risotto du Marchéfor_."

Raimundo nodded and scribbled this down onto his pad. "And for the main course?"

The same woman opened her mouth the reply again, but was cut off by the man in the bright blue satin dress shirt. The man's hair was slicked back in a way that reminded Raimundo of Antonio, forcing him to suppress an involuntary shudder.

"You know, Charlotte, we're perfectly capable of ordering ourselves."

Charlotte only snorted in response.

"Anyways," Antonio's look-a-like started, "I think I'll have the, ah, Jared de Argenoo…"

"You mean the _Jarret d'Agneau Braisé_?" Raimundo interrupted.

"Yeah that!" grinned the man. "Oh, and do you have any snails on this menu?"

The blonde giggled and Charlotte just buried her face in her hands while muttering something along the lines of, "Butch, you idiot…"

Raimundo inwardly sighed; this was going to be a long night. Thankfully, after Butch's second attempt at ordering something, Charlotte took over and made his life a lot easier.

---

Kimiko was bored. Again. She didn't have anyone to talk to, though she figured that she should be grateful that she didn't have to put up with any of Omi's strange questions today. Omi and Clay were at the opposite end of the room and were barely visible to her. They were probably waiting for their transmission to open. Looking back down at her menu for the forth time, Kimiko tried to find something to order, but was utterly helpless. That is, until she heard a familiar voice addressing her.

Raimundo was standing right in front of her. In a waiter's uniform. Holding a note-pad. And did she mention in a waiter's uniform? She wished she had her camera with her. This was definitely a Kodak moment.

"Are you dining alone, Miss?" Raimundo inquired with an amused smirk.

Kimiko rolled her eyes and responded somewhat indignantly, "As a matter of fact, I am."

"Well then, have you decided what you want to order?"

Kimiko just smiled sweetly (in a very fake and forced manner) and said, "Actually, I have no idea what to order. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well," Raimundo began, "For an appetizer, I would suggest our _Escargots au Beurre d'Ail, Petit Raviolis aux Fromages de Chèvre, Pastis et Jambon de Parme_, which is _Burgundy snails, goat cheese ravioli with garlic, herbs, pastis and Parma prosciutto."_

_Kimiko wasn't as shocked by his suggestion that she should eat snails as she was by his surprisingly fluent French. _

_Amused by Kimiko's facial expression, Raimundo continued, "For a main course, I suggest our ''Blanquette'' de Lapin au Riesling et Spaëtzles Croquants."_

_"Care to translate that for me?" _

_"It's _braised rabbit in Riesling with Spaetzle."

"Oh. I'll have that then."

"And would you like anything to drink?" Raimundo asked, "We have a great selection of fine wines—"

"You're not here to get me drunk, Rai."

The only response she received was a mock wink and a smirk as he took off to some other table. She felt her face redden and suppressed the urge to throttle him.

---

Raimundo scowled while being chastised by the manager for taking as long as he did. Honestly, it wasn't his entire fault. People these days were impossible. Of course, it probably didn't help that he was trying to amuse himself by playing "that annoying waiter" with Kimiko.

Raimundo furrowed his brow in annoyance when he found out he had to deliver half a dozen of other meals before the others would be ready. After about ten minutes of running back and forth, he finally got the chance to deliver the wine to table twenty-seven. Walking over there, he figured that now was as good of a time to bug the table.

However, Raimundo grew a little nervous as he approached the table. While setting the wine glasses on the table, he couldn't help but notice Charlotte and the other man's watchful eyes—daring him to do anything suspicious. Lady Luck really must've really been on his side tonight because the blonde accidentally knocked over one of the wine glasses, sending it over the table. Through quick and careful timing, Raimundo managed to angle his hand so that it slipped underneath the table when catching the falling glass. The glass softly hit the bottom of the table with a dull thud when Raimundo "caught" it. His intentionally clumsy catch allowed him to successfully stick the miniscule bug underneath the table. Phase one was complete.

---

A few tables away, Kimiko watched as Raimundo finished pouring the other table's drinks. _It's now or never, Rai. _She was antsy with anticipation. Her prayers were answered when her cell phone rang. Picking it up, she could here the conversation at the other table. She grinned. The first phase was complete. Now all they had to do was wait and listen for anything important.

---

Across the room, Omi and Clay were having a grand old time—really. Well, Omi was at least. Clay for one was not used to eating meals that were the size of his fist. He frowned at his appetizer. Did they honestly expect him to eat snails? Omi insisted on ordering random things on the menu, which was probably more than Omi would end up eating and more than Clay was willing to stomach. The fancy food in front of him was food for pansies, and Clay was most certainly not a pansy. He wished they would've gone to the Prime Steakhouse they saw earlier. It was times like these that Clay wished he was back in Texas where they had real food.

"Clay?" Omi asked for the nine millionth time.

Clay just sighed. "What is it., Omi?"

"Why is it that we are eating snails?"

"Omi, there are other things on this table. You don't have to eat the snails."

Clay sat there, wishing that Raimundo would hurry on up and open the transmission. His wish was answered when four different voices began to flood into his earpiece. Omi must've heard the same thing because the monk got considerably quieter, focusing more on what he was hearing rather than talking.

It was all a waiting game now.

---

Greg liked to think of him as a sophisticated man and a man that would like to be viewed as a respectable human being in public places. This image was definitely not enforced when he was with Butch. The man was the epitome of idiocy. Greg really did not know what was wrong with Butch, but the man acted like he was dropped on the head at least ten times as a child. It didn't help that Sarah always dressed like she was a Vegas call-girl. At least Charlotte was bearable despite her slight bossiness—okay, so maybe "slight" was a bit of an understatement. Greg watched as Charlotte snatched the wine bottle out of Butch's hands before he drank from the bottle.

"In case you three have forgotten," Charlotte began, "We're not here to behave like imbeciles."

"Awww, Char, we're only having fun." Sarah whined in her sickeningly fake sugar-coated voice.

Greg let out an exasperated sigh. "No, Sarah, we're really not. Unless we actually plan this out, this heist isn't going to run very smoothly—in fact, we'd probably get caught"

"Thank you, Greg," Charlotte said with a slight smile, "Our orders were to break into The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts. We were ordered to take as many Ansel Adams photographs as we can, but specifically the photograph of the Tetons and the Snake River. Remember, we have to do this without anyone noticing."

"Without anyone noticing? Charlotte, this is Vegas. No one sleeps here." Butch snapped.

"Which is exactly why we need to be worrying about how to go about doing this!"

Greg winced in his chair. Charlotte was pissed off again. Not that that was anything new or surprising. Butch had that effect on people. The only people who could stand Butch were either really drunk or really stupid. Even drunks would slap Butch on occasion.

"—be in at one o'clock am and out by two o'clock a.m." Charlotte finished.

_Crap_ Greg mentally swore at himself. He hadn't been listening. Charlotte was going to skin him alive.

"Greg, are you listening to me? I would expect you of all people to pay attention."

"Yes, of course I am. What about the guards?" Greg asked, hoping that it was something that Charlotte hadn't brought up yet.

Charlotte frowned. "I thought I already went over that." She paused to think. "Maybe I wasn't being very clear."

Greg let out a mental sigh of relief.

"I managed to swipe the schedule--don't ask how--from one of nighttime patrols. The guards alternate at 1 A.M, leaving us a five minute time gap for us to get in and thirty minutes to get out. There's a vent that runs above the gallery. We're using that to get inside. I assume you were listening when I went over how we'll deal with the security cameras and alarms?" Charlotte said, finishing her explanation.

Greg could only cast an apologetic look. Charlotte sighed and got ready to repeat herself, but stopped when their waiter arrived with their main course. She eyed him suspiciously. There was something off about their waiter—something she couldn't quite put her finger on. He was charming, she'd give him that, but he didn't look old enough to even be working at Le Cirque. All the other waiters were in their mid thirties, if not older, and this waiter looked no older than nineteen. It might have been the natural paranoia she developed from working for various organized crime leaders, jumping from one to another as organizations fell apart, but that same paranoia had saved her ass on more than one occasion. Her head felt full from all the stress her occupation usually included. The meticulous dissection every move their waiter made only made her head ache a little more. Reaching up to massage her temple, Charlotte decided to ignore the uncomfortable twang in the back of her head and hoped that their waiter really was a waiter.

---

It was 10:00 p.m. and the restaurant was now devoid of all occupants with the exception of its employees, well, most of them at least. The manager could not, for the life of him, figure out where Erik Vasquez went. Unknown to most, the real Erik Vasquez was heavily sedated in his own hotel room, completely unaware that he had missed his first day of work. Dojo wasn't too worried about the man. The empty and open bottles of vodka rolling around the floor would explain volumes to the real Mr. Vasquez.

---

Raimundo stuffed his waiter's uniform into the trash bin in the hotel room's bathroom, happy to be rid of the restrictive monstrosity. Staring at his reflection in the mirror made him grimace at the state of his body. His erratic eating habits were catching up to him and the scabs on his arms were starting to get itchy. Choosing to actually listen to the grumbling noises his stomach was making, Raimundo pulled on his navy blue shirt and reached for the bathroom's door handle, only to stop when he heard sound coming from his headset. _That's odd. We deactivated the one underneath the table, and the GPS shouldn't be transmitting sound. _Curious, Raimundo picked up the headset he tossed in the hamper and held it up to his ears.

"…don't know why we're continuing this discussion." The voice sounded like it belonged to Kimiko.

There was the sound of a door opening and slamming followed by some awkward rustling. _They must've forgotten to turn off the transmitter in Kimiko's cell phone. _He knew he should probably do the honest thing and cut the connection, but he sort of wanted to know what they were talking about. He looked at the earpiece in his hand, debating whether or not to actually listen to eavesdrop when he hear someone say something that vaguely resembled his name. _Screw it, I'm listening in. _

"…--ink he should go on this stakeout." This voice sounded like it belonged to Omi.

"Dojo, Omi's got a point, yah know? Who're we to say that he won't pull some stunt and go all dark-side on us again? It's not that I don't want to learn to trust the guy again; I just know that this is something that'll take us some time. " Clay's voice, though hushed, now filled the receiver.

Someone let out a sigh of exasperation. Raimundo wasn't sure who it belonged to.

Omi's voice flitted through once more. "Dojo, I honestly think we should reconsider letting Raimundo come with us on such an important mission. Clay and I do not feel particularly safe around him yet, and I don't think Kimiko does either. Dojo, you have to understand that there are many temptations out there, particularly in the area we are about to delve into. Organized crime is an easy way to find fortune, and I do not trust Raimundo to be able to restrain his inherently greedy and selfish tendencies. Dojo, I truly believe that by not letting him go with us for this mission is for his own good."

"Well—"

_Is this what Kimiko meant when she said she didn't want to continue "this discussion"? _Raimundo frowned, waiting for another voice to fill the headphone. He had pushed the conversation he heard a few days ago to the back of his mind because there were only so many things he wanted to deal with. Of course it hurt that his only friends (or should he be referring to them as his former friends now?) couldn't find it in their hearts to actually learn to trust him again, but it bothered him that they chose to talk about him behind his back. Frankly, he never expected them to fully accept him as part of their team right away, let alone a close friend. Raimundo knew his actions were immature, rash and downright stupid, but he knew he made a mistake, he owned up to it, and now, he was trying to make things up. He didn't complain when Omi made sly remarks, and he didn't comment when he saw how they weren't as close to him as they were to each other. Throwing down the receiver, he reached for the door knob once again, but this time, he actually chose to open it.

Immediately, all conversation on the other side of the door came to a screeching halt. Three heads turned in his direction, and a thick silenced permeated the air. _Go on, say something to them._

"Where did Kimiko go?" Raimundo inwardly cringed. That wasn't what he intended to say—then again wanting to say something and being able to actually do so were two entirely different things.

Dojo cleared his throat. "Ah, I think she went outside, ah, the balcony I mean."

'So it wasn't the door that slammed, it was the window.' Raimundo thought as he walked towards the large glass window.

Sliding the large glass window open, he spotted Kimiko sitting on the railing. She donned a dark grey sweater and olive green shorts. Raimundo found the sweater an odd choice for Vegas weather, but concluded that it was still a bit unusually chilly outside. He slid the window shut and walked over to the railing, resting his arms on it. They stayed there in a comfortable silence for a while before Rai decided to break it.

"I lied."

Kimiko raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Letting out a sigh, he continued, "About not overhearing Clay and Omi talking back at the Ming Xu temple."

Kimiko immediately felt her face redden from irritation and turned to face Raimundo, who was still looking directly ahead. "Why would you lie about something like that? Do you have any idea how guilty I felt? I still feel guilty about it…"

Apologetic green eyes pierced blue ones. "I'm sorry."

Kimiko's eyes immediately softened, her irritation slowly ebbing away. She just did not like being lied to. "No, actually I think I, actually Clay, Omi and I, owe you an apology. It was rude of us to talk about you behind your back. If I had a question, I should've asked you, not Clay or Omi."

"Apology accepted," Raimundo replied. "But, answer me honestly, Kimiko, do you agree with what they said?"

Kimiko hesitated to answer, and then struggled to find a suitable one.

"Would it help if I rephrased my question?"

She nodded.

Standing up straight again, Rai turned his head so that he was no longer looking at Kimiko. "Do you still trust me?"

He closed his eyes and waited for the answer. A large part of him was begging her to say "yes" because he needed her to say that she still trusted him—that he was her friend and she trusted him in spite of everything that has transpired. His heart, his soul and his mind needed that reassurance, and right now, Kimiko was the only one that could give it to him. So he stood there as agonizing seconds passed by, waiting, praying and above all, hoping that she could give him that reassurance. He almost choked on the air he was inhaling when the response finally came.

"No." It was simple, but the point was there. There was no hint of an apology or even sympathy—just a straight forward and above all honest answer.

It still felt like someone had stabbed him in the stomach, but he understood. He knew he shouldn't of had expected anything less from her. Kimiko was courteous enough to treat him like, at least in some sense, a human being. _I deserve far less. _There it was again. His insecurities were starting to bubble and froth inside of him for the millionth time, but he pushed it down and reacted with the only thing he had left—his dignity.

"Okay." Rai's voice was steady, and he was grateful that it was.

She nodded and got off the rail. "We should go back inside now. I'm sure they're waiting for us."

He nodded and followed her back inside.

---

Dojo was not happy with their final decision, but majority ruled, and he couldn't come up with a better argument. Picking up the sound of the window sliding open and two sets of footsteps entering the hotel room, Dojo shifted his slightly morose gaze towards the Dragon of Fire and the Dragon of Wind. At least he didn't have to be the bearer of bad news. _Then again, it really is only bad news for Raimundo. _

"It is wonderful of you two to finally join us. Clay, Dojo and I have been waiting for quite some time. Since it is almost a quarter until one, now is the time to discuss our plan of action. I have a great deal to discuss as we are about to dive into a very—"

"Cut the crap, Omi."

Four startled faces turned towards Raimundo who sighed and continued, "You guys agreed to not let me come along, and even though I'm just as capable of handling a few goons as any of you are, I'm not going to bother arguing. None of you trust me—fine. I can live with that. Since I don't need to actually be there I don't think I need to listen to Omi talk."

The bitterness was creeping back into his voice, so he pushed it aside. "Besides, I should considering myself lucky to not have to listen to Bald Almighty bark out demands."

Omi was fuming at this point. "How _dare _you talk to me in such a manner? You are a non-Apprentice. Clearly that shows that you are not ready and not worthy of—Raimundo, come back here!"

"Later." That was all Rai said as he opened to door to the adjoined bedroom and slammed it shut.

"Well," Clay began, breaking the awkward silence, "I'd say that that didn't go too well. Er, how 'bout you tell us about that plan now, Omi."

"Ah yes! It is an ingenious plan that only someone of my tremendous caliber…"

---

For the past hour or so, Rai had been trying to get that obnoxious voice in his head to go away before it pushed him over to edge. _I am not schizophrenic. I am not schizophrenic. I am **not** schizophrenic._ He sighed, ramming his head into a pillow in an attempt to stop the pounding that usually came with the voice.

**_Awww, is little Rai going to start crying like a baby again? Weren't you a foolish sap to think they'd still trust you after that stunt you pulled? You really are worthless. Even Clay didn't defend you. That huge mass defends everyone. _**

"Shut up. Go away." Rai said aloud through gritted teeth.

_**But Raimundo! I'm the only friend you have. Surely you're not going to push me away too? That'd be awfully silly of you. **_

He let out another aggravated groan. "Go away!"

_**Am I hurting your feelings? **_

A loud cackle reverberated through his skull.

**_I'm terribly sorry, but your "friends" really do have a point. You aren't reliable. Nope, not at all. You're actually a bit of a backstabber. _**

"I said SHUT UP!" Frustrated, Raimundo threw the first thing he could grab at the wall. A loud crash resounded off the walls and into the empty hotel room.

Looking back over at the wall, Raimundo could make out bits of what used to be the room's alarm clock. Angry and unhappy, he sort of wished he threw something that would've broken off into sharper pieces. It was tempting because splitting himself open was something that made him momentarily forget how unhappy he was. _It might even make this stupid voice go way. _He'd left his razor back at the Xiaolin temple, so there wasn't anything he had on him that would be sharp enough. He could always break something else, but he didn't want to leave Master Fong with any damage fines. Letting out a resigned sigh, Rai settled for leaning his head against the wall, shutting his eyes and simply breathing. However, he was pulled out of his trance when he heard a frantic pounding on the adjoining door.

"Raimundo? Let me in!"

It was Dojo. Getting up off the floor, Raimundo tried to steady himself in light of his pounding headache and opened the door. Immediately, the small dragon jumped up and grabbed Rai's shirt collar. Large desperate eye looked into his slightly clouded ones. The headache was subsiding and the voice was gone, for now at least.

"Something went wrong, and I don't know what to do. I'm freaking out here because Master Fong is going to kill me…and…I'm scared."

Raimundo gently pulled Dojo off him and set the dragon on the carpet. "Dojo, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened."

Dojo took a deep breath and began to recount the tale.

---

A/N: Wow that was long. Well, review and tell me what you think. )

And in case anyone was wondering:

Butch: 21

Sarah: 23

Charlotte: 19

Greg: 24

One or two of these characters will likely end up playing a significant role in this story. I'll give a virtual cookie to whoever can guess which one(s) it will be.


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